Not for Forever
by ohmyakito
Summary: Jeb locates the Flock's missing parents. Will they be forced to live with their blood related families or will they continue living as a Flock? How will they hold up knowing that they might be living separate lives? FAX
1. Homecoming

"When's everybody's in, and you're left out,

**I know that this plot had been done so many times before, when the Flock finds their parents and leaves Max all by herself and then some major stuff happens and they all get back together and they live happily ever after.**

**Well, this is a different twist because Max had already found her parents so this is like what would happen if the Flock all had parents. But you have to keep reading to find out if they do get their happily ever after.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, in any way or form, own Maximum Ride or any of it's characters. **

"When's everybody's in, and you're left out,

And you feel your drowning, in the shadow of a doubt,

Everyone's a miracle in their own way

Just listen to yourself, not what other people say."

--Bon Jovi

Chapter One –Max POV

Here I am again. Just sitting here, waiting. Not like that will change anything. I'm always waiting. But every time, it's the same answer.

_I'm so sorry guys,_ he'll say. _Nothing this time. I'm not giving up though. I promise. _The same phrase he said so many times before that I lost track.

So I'm stuck here, in Mom's living room, waiting around with the Flock, plus Total, Akila, Ella and Mom. I was sitting on the couch next to Angel who had Total in her lap, snoozing softly. Fang was typing something on his laptop, Iggy and the Gasman were whispering something across the coffee table, something about explosives, I think, and Ella and Nudge were sprawled out on the floor watching some show on MTV. Mom was in the kitchen baking cookies from the smell of it.

It's been a few months since we've taken down Itex making it a total of one year since we left our E-shaped house in Colorado. All the psycho scientists are either jailed or dead. So now Fang, Iggy, and I are fifteen, Nudge is twelve, Gazzy's nine, and Angel is seven. We're hanging out at Mom's house at the moment, anxiously waiting for Jeb's return that hopefully brought some good news this week.

I personally did not want to hear it but the younger three did and I respected that and played along. Iggy already knew, and Fang didn't want any part in this. We've talked about it before.

Basically, we're back in hiding. It's a lot like how we were living before all this on the run stuff, before Angel was kidnapped and before our lives got turned completely upside down.

It was a different kind of hiding though. The government knows about us now, and they're working to protect us. They decided that it would be best if the public knew nothing about us, after much persuasion from our side of course. So that school those government wankos built for us? Yeah, it's gone. Fang's blog? That's gone, too. The goal is to hopefully make everyone think that this was just some joke or something, that there really are no flying bird kids. Its working pretty well, much to my surprise.

Of course that means we're under special surveillance, like annual house visits and education requirements. Mom and Jeb had gotten the six of us pretty much gotten us caught up in our schoolwork.

Mom and Jeb are the Flock's temporary guardians for the moment, until the government tracks down their missing parents. Not like that matters in the long run because I doubt anyone will ever find them. But I'm keeping my big mouth shut on that topic.

"Max? Can you come in here for a sec?" Mom called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm coming," I said, as I unwrapped my arm from around Angel. Fang glanced up from his laptop as I lifted myself off the couch and stepped over Akila. I felt his gaze on me as I walked into the kitchen.

"What's up?" I asked walking over to the table. I peered into the mixing bowl filled halfway with raw cookie dough.

"You okay?" she asked, giving me a sideways glance while placing a clump of dough on the tray.

I rolled my eyes. We went through this conversation almost every week.

"Mom, I'm fine. Honestly."

"Okay, sweetie. I'm just worried about you. You never know what Jeb might say."

"I know, Mom," I said, a little aggravated. "I've thought about that. But really, I'm fine."

"Okay, okay. You obviously don't want to talk about it." She smiled then pointed to a tray. "Just take those cookies off the tray before them stick."

I grabbed the spatula and scrapped the edge of a cookie. I wasn't lying when I told her that I had thought about this before, a million different scenarios running through my head. I was lying when I said I was fine.

"You don't think he actually found something, do you?" My voice was a little shaky.

She rubbed my arm. "You never know, Max."

She left a few minutes later to go put in another load of laundry. With six additional kids living in the house it had been getting a little demanding.

My back stiffened. I gripped the spatula tighter, but I continued piling cookies onto the plate as if I didn't notice him there.

"What's up?" I asked Fang, who had entered the room.

"Not much." He shrugged and took a cookie. "Still getting emails."

My eyebrows rose. "Still? You were supposed to stop writing blog entries," I said, semi-accusing.

"Doesn't mean people still try to reach me."

"Well, aren't you popular," I muttered. I had never liked his blog and it bothered me that people were still trying to get in contact with him after several months after the no-contact rule.

Minutes later we were both in the living room with a prepared plate of chocolate cookies which Fang placed on the coffee table. We sat back down but I could still feel his gaze on me. I gritted my teeth. Couldn't he just leave me alone? Did he have to watch my every move? Of course he did.

"Hey, Max?" Nudge said, practically bouncing up and down, "do you think Jeb actually found anything? Why isn't he home by now? Shouldn't he be? Right? I mean, it is kinda late and all."

"Nudge, relax. I don't know when he's gonna be back but it will probably be soon." I was trying to be convincing but I don't think it worked very well.

Angel and the Gasman were watching out the window for his car to pull up. I heard Fang close his laptop and Ella had muted the TV.

"He probably didn't even find anything," Fang said, only loud enough for me to hear him. He had moved behind me, standing up behind the couch.

I turned around and looked at him. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear I said to him, "That's what you said last week."

He almost smiled.

Fang looked very calm, despite what might happen in the next few moments. I, on the other hand, was tensing as random cars drove by.

He looked down at me, his face very smooth and blank, but his eyes swirling with emotions I couldn't quite make out. We had gotten closer these past few months, friendship wise, nothing major. He hadn't tried to, like, kiss me again, which I was mostly glad about, and we hadn't talked about anything like that either.

I knew I loved him, but I loved everyone in the Flock. But there was this something about him, this something that made butterflies swarm in my stomach, something that made my heart pound louder and faster, something that left me breathless, something that made a flush creep across my collarbone, something that made my cheeks turn red and my eyes look away.

Something that told me, not only did I love him, but maybe, I was a little…in love with him.

Maybe.

"Max," Iggy said, breaking me from my thoughts. "He's here."

Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy looked at me with some much hope in their eyes that my heart felt heavy. I gave them an encouraging smile.

Ella, who was sitting on the arm of Iggy's chair, called out to Mom, who was still in the laundry room, that Jeb had arrived.

"Oh, my God, I hope he found something! I can't believe how… how close I am to—"

"Nudge. Relax. Breathe." I demonstrated with a deep intake of air and she took a shallow breath and returned her eyes to the window.

The door opened and Jeb stepped through with several, large manila envelopes in his hand. He started to talk but the words didn't make sense. It was like his mouth was moving but all I could hear was gibberish.

Then I couldn't hear anything at all. I could see the Flock's reactions; excitement and shock. I could see Iggy's face get paler and Fang's eyes shine with something I had never seen before.

I heard Jeb's words replaying themselves over and over in my head. They weren't hard, big words to understand, but somehow they seemed incoherent.

I repeated to myself the words that he had said last week, with a totally different expression on his face and a totally different reaction from the Flock.

_"I'm so sorry guys. Nothing this time. I'm not giving up, though. I promise."_

I compared that to what he said this week, the heart shattering response that had me in a mummified state for all of two short seconds that seemed like two long hours.

I was brought back to reality, Jeb's words playing on a loop in my head finally making some sense as I realized that he has kept his promise.

"We got it guys," he had said, with everyone's eyes staring at him. "We found the files. We found your parents."

**I hate to end off with a cliffhanger, but I couldn't think of any other way to end it. Now go click that little purple button. You know you want to. Flames and constructive criticism always welcome :**

**PG**


	2. Found

Disclaimer: I am not in any shape or form, James Patterson

**Disclaimer: I am not in any shape or form, James Patterson. **

"Time respects no person,

And what you lift up must fall.

They're waiting outside to claim my crumblin' walls."

--John Cougar Mellencamp

Chapter Two—Max POV

We all sat around the coffee table looking at the files of each other's families. The younger three were basically going crazy about loads of pictures, and information about births and deaths.

After the shock and excitement had worn down, I thought we should take a look at the files all together instead of each of us tearing them open at the same time. Everyone except me, had a very thick, ominous looking manila envelop. Right now I was mentally preparing myself to control my emotions as we looked at Nudge's file together.

We were all scattered around the living room, our attention on Nudge who sat cross-legged on the floor. Gazzy and Angel were peering over her shoulder as she held the envelope in her tan hand. I sat on the right side of Gazzy, and Fang was sitting on the arm of the couch to the left of Mom, and Jeb had positioned himself on the other side of her. Iggy was still in his chair with Ella sitting nearby, and Total and Akila had moved next to Angel. Even Magnolia seemed to be waiting and watching from her spot in the kitchen doorway.

Nudge was practically shaking as she slowing slipped her index finger under the flap and tore open her folder. She wordlessly- for once- took out a stack of papers and skimmed through them, her eyes jumping from page to page as she spread them out on the coffee table in front of her.

I looked around the room. The rest of the Flock was anxious, jumpy. I could tell they wanted to open their envelopes, too. Gazzy quivered next to me.

"Oh my God!" Nudge suddenly shouted, "Look! It's me!" She was holding up a birth announcement, waving it around so much that you couldn't even get a glance in.

She started reading it aloud, but her voice sounded so quick and incoherent. Or maybe I just couldn't bring myself to listen.

I wanted so badly to be happy for them. I wanted, more than anything, to feel the excitement and to see all the possibilities that this would bring, but I could only see one. And that was the fact that this was going to tear my Flock, my family, apart.

Nudge passed around the card and I stared at it. It was weird. I don't remember her as a baby, I was still young myself, but this picture was definitely Nudge. I could tell by the shape of her mouth, the structure of her face, the coloring of her skin. I passed the picture to Fang. He let his fingers touch mine a little too long, as if to see if I was alright. I turned away from his gaze.

Nudge was talking again, and I tried to pay attention and smile but all I could do was "ooh" and "ahh" and offer up a weak excuse of a grin. Nudge on the other hand, was glowing.

She passed another picture of what only could be her mom and dad. I noticed the similarities between them. She looked like the splitting image of her father, but she shared some features with her mom. Her hair looked to be the same color and texture, and they had the same nose. The coloring of her skin seemed to be a mixture of the two.

"Look! I have three brothers!" She looked down at the picture in her hand, "And two sisters! Oh my God, oh my God…" Nudge was practically shaking. I saw her eyes fill with tears and I was trying my hardest to keep my eyes dry.

"Nudge, that's really great," I managed to say, in what I hope was an excited, sincere voice. She beamed at me and it looked like she bought it.

"Max? Can we open mine next? And Angel's?" Gazzy asked, already starting to open the envelope that held both their information.

"Wait, give Nudge a chance to finish."

"It's alright Gaz, I'm done," Nudge said, not even bothering to put the information back in the package. She was holding it in her lap, still looking at the photos.

The Gasman practically tore the envelope in half trying to open it. He gave some papers to Angel and started reading his stack out loud, sounding out words as he went along.

"None of this makes sense," Angel whined, frustrated. I took them from her, my eyes skimming the page as I tried to stay in control of myself.

"Looks like your mom is living in Texas," I said reading the information. "Your dad lives somewhere in Oregon."

"Are they divorced?" Gazzy asked.

"Doesn't say." I was still reading, trying to find some more information.

"Here's a picture of your mom, guys." I handed them the picture and swallowed hard. Angel had tears streaming down his cheeks and Gazzy was trying hard not to cry.

It didn't take long to find a picture of their father, and by that point Angel had her face buried in my shirt, her small shoulders shaking. I rubbed her back and looked at the picture Gazzy was holding.

Gazzy, after all the picture-passing had worn down, had taken the pile of papers and silently put them back in its folder. He sealed it back up, stared at it for a moment, then broke into this huge smile that completely broke my heart.

Fang was next. He sifted through the papers reading and rereading them before he finally said something out loud.

"My mother married, but not to my father," His tone was flat, unemotional like always, but I thought I picked up a hint of something I couldn't recognize.

He looked up at all of us, turning his head slowly, as if taking in the moment. His mouth curved up a tiny bit at the sides in the hint of a smile as he looked back down at the picture in his lap.

"I have a step-sister," He said, his voice a little higher than normal. I bet no one even noticed, "And a younger brother."

"Oh, Fang!" Nudge said running over to see the picture. "Lemme see!"

As he showed Nudge the picture, I could sense something changing. I felt like I was losing in a battle to keep my family together. I knew that this was something that Angel, Nudge, and the Gasman had wanted to find out for quite some time. This was something that all of us had dreamed about before. Finding our parents was our main goal, once upon a time. It had happened to Iggy, and then me. I could tell the rest of the Flock had really wanted to know, just exactly where they came from. At least, I knew the younger three did.

But I had never expected Fang would want to leave. Meeting his parents, definitely. All those times we stayed up late at night, just the two of us, talking, he always said how he didn't care. He had said that he wanted to know who they were but he didn't want any part in their normal lives, any part in living in a world where kids with wings were just a mere fantasy.

But I knew. I had known since the minute he opened his envelope that he changed his mind. He wanted it all. He wanted it more than he thought he did. I don't think he even realized it. All of a sudden, he had left me. After all those times of telling me that he wouldn't do anything to leave the Flock. I knew he had already decided. I knew they all had. Nudge, and Gazzy, and Angel, and Fang.

Iggy was now my only hope. I had to hang onto him. Which is why when Iggy said, after Fang was done looking at the files for now, that he wanted to wait to open his, my heart soared. I felt incredibly guilty, and acted excited for my guys, but I knew that Fang saw right through that. I think Mom did, too.

Which is why, when the Flock were getting their shoes on to go for a victory flight, Mom had put her hand on my shoulder, I flinched away, embarrassed at how selfish I had acted.

"They're just excited, Max," she said softly, when no one was listening, "That's all."

"I know."

"Be happy for them."

"I am happy," I said. "Way happy." I offered up a weak smile.

"But…"

I sighed. I could feel the rush of tears behind my eyes.

"But they're leaving me, Mom. I can feel it. Each one of them."

"You don't know that yet." She rubbed my arm.

"I can tell. I have this gut feeling. I know them, Mom. They want to go, so badly. Even Fang. Especially Fang."

"Maybe not. Jeb thinks you should meet their parents first. To make sure they're all right."

I nodded. That made sense.

"But they're still going to leave me. Each and everyone one of them. And you know what the worst part is?" The tears were really coming now, "I can't even be mad. Not even a tiny bit." I looked at Mom.

"Because I did the same thing. I met my parents, I moved in with you. It's only fair that they get to do the same." I could hear the Flock coming now, their feet padding down the hall.

"You don't know that for sure, honey."

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, "Yes, Mom. I do."


	3. Night Time

Disclaimer: I, PG, do not, I repeat, DO NOT own Maximum Ride and all of its glory

**Disclaimer: I, PG, do not, I repeat, DO NOT own Maximum Ride and all of its glory. Darn.**

"Close the window, draw the curtains,

You ain't the only one here hurtin'.

No one's right, no one's wrong,

Lately there's a whole lot of leavin' goin' on."

--Bon Jovi

Chapter 3— Max P.O.V.

I sat on the roof, my arms wrapped around my legs. I was just staring off into space; I couldn't bring myself to think about anything at the moment.

I heard someone walk out the back door and onto the lawn. It was way past midnight, I thought everyone was asleep.

A tall, lean shadow walked across the grass, then turned around to face me, spreading out his wings slowly. I gritted my teeth. I really didn't want to talk to him.

He took off into the air, flying in large arcs above my head. I could barely make out his outline except when he flew in front of the moon. I didn't know what he was doing, was he expecting me to join him?

Fang landed a few minutes later and stood over me. I slowly turned my head to face him.

His face was blank, like usual, but he seemed pretty calm. I waited for him to say something and when he didn't, I looked away.

Fang sat down cross-legged, next to me and lay back on his palms, titling his head towards the sky. I looked around the back yard, taking in every leaf on every tree, watching how the wind blew the grass in different directions.

"What's up?" Fang asked, breaking the silence.

I shrugged, not wanting to lie and say nothing, and not wanting to explain the truth.

He sat up straighter, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," My voice was quiet, unemotional.

"Why you up so late?" It would kill him to speak properly, wouldn't it?

"Same reason you are, I assume."

"Not in the mood to talk?"

I sighed, "Not really."

He smirked at me, "Too bad, we're gonna talk anyway."

"I'm fine, really."

"Who said we were going to talk about you?" His voice was slightly mocking.

Oh. We were going to talk about _that._

I waited for him to start as I played with my untied shoelaces.

"My mom was eighteen."

I looked up at him, "Huh?"

He looked me straight in the eye then looked down at his hands, "She was eighteen when she had me."

"Oh," I started then paused, "It said that?"

"No, it said her birth date," he explained, still not looking at me.

"What about your dad?"

"He lives somewhere in New York. My mom and her husband, my step-dad, live in New Jersey."

He was already referring to them as his parents. He was becoming attached. It was like bringing home an unwanted pet. I knew he was going to leave, I just knew it.

"Anything else?" I asked, knowing there would be more.

"My sister is actually my step-sister. She's our age. And my brother is really my half-brother. He's four. Stephanie and Michael."

I nodded not knowing what to say.

He looked up at me. "I'm not leaving you, you know."

I bit my lip. I knew he was going to no matter what he said. Those were just words. I don't think he knew he was leaving yet.

"You don't believe me," he said plainly.

I sighed, "No, I don't."

"Look, Max, I promised I was never going to leave you. I plan on keeping that promise." He seemed to mean it but I knew better.

"You say that right now, before you meet them, before you see into their life, their home. Whatever. You say that before you know anything."

"I know enough. And I know that I'm not going to leave you, or the Flock," he said firmly.

"The Flock's leaving me." My voice wavered.

"Says who?" He was beginning to sound a lot like Mom.

"I can tell, Fang," I said softly.

"What, can you read minds now? How do you know for sure, Max?" He sounded sure of himself that he was right.

"I can just tell. They want to go. They want to go live with their families." I hated the way I was sounding. Weak, miserable, confused.

Fang shook his head. "Not Iggy. Iggy hates his parents. And the Flock would never want to leave you."

"It doesn't matter. The government will make them."

He rolled his eyes, "Since when do they have any power over us?"

I didn't have an answer for him.

"Look, this is one of those many times where I just happen to know a whole lot more than you do, thus making me right. Forget it, Max. They're just excited right now. It'll wear down. They'll definitely want to meet them, yeah, but they won't leave, I promise."

"You know, all these promises are going to come back and bite you in the ass."

He almost smiled.

"And we'll see who is right when the time to say goodbye comes," I said.

"Yeah, it'll still be me, 'cause the only people we'll be saying bye to are our families," Fang said.

"We'll see."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm always right?"

"About a million," I said smiling.

He sighed as dramatically as Fang could sigh, "Only about a half a million left to go."

We quieted down after that for a little while, until Fang broke the silence again.

"You have no reason to be scared, you know. No one's leaving you," he whispered.

"Who said I'm scared?"

"It's written all over your face."

I tightened my jaw.

"I told you, no one's going to leave," he said convincingly.

Not yet they're not, I thought.

Fang stood up, brushing off his pants, "Come on, it's late. Let's go back inside."

He held out his hand for me to take. I stood up with out taking it. The look of hurt that flashed across his face made my heart pump faster as he put his hands in his pants pockets.

We walked back in the house, all the while me thinking how wrong he is, and how he didn't even know it yet.


	4. Plans

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. There. I said it.**

Chapter 4—Max P.O.V.

The next morning, we all were sitting at the kitchen table eating a large breakfast of omelets, toast, and those small mini breakfast sausages. I sat between Angel and Iggy, feeling exhausted from my lack of sleep the night before. I was trying to jump into one of the too many conversations going on, but I didn't have the energy.

Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge were making up scenarios about their families. There was a pretty large range, differing from Nudge's parents living in a mansion with two Porches- one black, one blue- an indoor swimming pool, and full-length tennis courts. Angel and the Gasman's parents were living separately, their mom owning a bakery and their dad being the mayor. I didn't want to remind them that one, or both, of their parents had sold them.

I kept thinking back to the talk I had with Jeb early this morning, before anybody had woken up. He had found me curled up in the armchair in the dark living room, staring off into space.

"Max?" he asked, sounding worn out and tired, "Are you ok?"

_No Jeb_, I thought. _I'm just awake at five o' clock in the morning because I felt like it._

Instead, I shrugged, but he probably didn't see.

"Are you worried about their parents? Is that why you're awake?" he asked. He was going for a responsible, caring father but was pretty much achieving annoying.

"Couldn't sleep." I had just hoped he would go back to whatever he was up for. Instead he walked over to the couch and sat down, reaching out his hand to place on my arm. I pulled away.

"I was hoping what we could do is call their families first, let them know who we are before we go check them out in person." So he wanted to talk business. That was fine with me.

"Ok," I said.

"We won't share too much information, of course. Just enough though."

I nodded, not wanting to talk. Jeb decided to change the subject.

"Do you want anything? I was going to make some coffee," he asked, starting to get up. I shook my head.

"Ok. Just let me know if you change your mind," he winked at me before walking into the kitchen.

"Max," Ella said, snapping me out of my flashback and bringing back to the present.

"Yeah?" I asked.

She pointed to Fang, "Doesn't Fang look like Batman?"

Uh, what?

I paused for a moment before responding, looking at Fang who seemed to be deciding if this was funny or annoying.

"Um… not really," I said warily.

"What?" she said, sounding outraged at the same time Iggy said, "I told you so."

"Well, he looks more like Batman than Darth Vader," Ella said to Iggy. I was completely lost in this conversation.

"Yeah, OK. Whatever you say," Iggy said, waving his hand in Ella's general direction.

"He needs a cape to look like Darth Vader, Iggy," Ella said in a voice clearly questioning why he didn't know this.

"Oh, _sorry._ I guess I must've missed that the last time I _watched_ Star Wars."

"Yeah, so how can you even tell what he looks like then, Iggy?" Ella asked.

He shrugged. "Last time I saw him against anything white."

I decided it was time to step in. "What the heck are you guys talking about?" I asked noticing for the first time that the rest of the Flock had left.

"Well, Iggy thinks that Fang looks more like Darth Vader when he obviously looks more like Batman," Ella explained.

"And you got on to this subject…how?" I asked still confused.

"Ella asked Fang why he wears black all the time," Ig said.

"And you two just decided he looked like Darth Vader and Batman."

They both paused, thinking for the right words.

"Well, yeah," Ella said.

"Whatever." It was probably best not to get into it.

I got up from the table, picking up my plate and piling my silverware on top, "You know," I said, walking over to the sink, "If you grew a beard, Fang, they might start calling you Chewbacca."

I turned around to see Fang's reaction and he gave me a say-anything-else-and-you're-so-dead look and I smiled.

Jeb had called us into the living room to discuss the "situation." I stood next to Fang, who had his arms crossed.

"Sometime, either today or tomorrow, Max and I are going to make some phone calls to your parents before actually planning a good time to meet them," Jeb started.

"Are we going to talk to them?" Nudge asked.

"Probably not," I said, hating the look of disappointment that crossed over her face. "You know, for safety reasons."

"But it's only over the phone," she pointed out.

"I know Nudge, but you never know what could happen."

She quieted down, and Jeb continued. I had the feeling that everything he was going to say was going to go in one ear and out the other.

"Max and I are going to see if we can go sometime over the next few weeks to meet everyone," Jeb said and it looked like he had more to say but he was interrupted by Nudge.

"Are we going, too, Max?" she asked her face lighting up.

I shook my head and her face fell, "That's why I'm going, Nudge. To check them out. You know, make sure they're safe and all. Hear their background stories." I realized Jeb picked up on my choice of wording of not including him in the details.

"But I thought that was why you're calling them," she said, her brow furrowing. "Right?"

"Well, more like I'm calling to make plans to meet them. I still have to check them out before any of you guys actually meet them."

Nudge had pretty much given up on trying to make sense of this, "Whatever," she said and I was surprised at the lack of words.

"Nudge?" I asked a little worried.

"Yeah, I understand now." She sank back deeper into the couch, twirling a curl from her hair absentmindedly. I would talk to her later.

"_We_," Jeb continued looking at me, "just wanted to make sure everyone was caught up with the plan. Everyone good?"

Heads nodded, and Iggy turned back to the TV. Angel went outside with Mom, who was teaching her to plant flowers in the garden. Gazzy moved next to Iggy to watch a baseball game, as Ella moved next to Nudge (who still looked a little off), to look at magazine. Jeb went back into Mom's study.

"Hey Darth Vader," Iggy said. "Come watch the game."

"It's Batman, Iggy," Ella told him.

"Well, he looks like Darth Vader."

"You can't even _see_ him Iggy."

I rolled my eyes. Not this again.

"Alright, enough," I cut in. They were still glaring at each other. Well, more like Ella was glaring at Iggy, who was just kind of looking mad in her direction.

"Later, Ig," He turned towards me, "I want to talk."

So it was going to be one of _those_ days.

Reluctantly, I followed him to the room the guys were sharing. Frankly, a bunch of homeless pigs would've kept the room neater, the way it looked right now.

When we were both in the room, he closed the door and then crossed his arms, "Talk."

Oh, so he wanted _me _to talk.

I tried to look innocent and confused, "About what?"

He rolled his eyes, "You know about what."

"Uh, no Fang. I don't know," I said, glaring at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, now more serious, his eyes reflecting worry.

"Nothing's wrong," I mumbled.

"I know you better than that, Max," He uncrossed his arms. "You can tell me."

I didn't trust my voice enough to speak.

"Are you worried about the Flock? Them meeting their parents? You meeting their parents?" He was staring at me intently, as if he could see right into my soul.

"I'm not worried," I said and he gave me his don't-lie-straight-to-my-face look, "Really, I'm fine." I started to walk past him but he stuck his arm out across the door and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Max, tell me what is bugging you so much." His voice was assertive and I wondered why he cared so much when he was about to leave me anyway.

I narrowed my eyes. "Leave me alone, Fang," I practically growled. He stood his ground. Then he straightened and pulled his arm back next to him, his eyes now softer.

"I'm not leaving you, Max. I told you. The Flock isn't either."

I took a step back, surprised at how quickly he figured out why I was so upset.

"Max," he took a small step forward, then seemed to stop himself at whatever it was he was going to do.

"How do you know that for sure Fang?" My voice sounded indifferent on the outside, but on the inside, I was pretty shaken.

"I just do."

"Well, that's not good enough!" I was getting pretty frustrated now and what was even more pathetic was the fact that I didn't even know what was really bothering me.

"Max, you're just gonna have to trust me on this one," Fang said his eyes averting my gaze.

"What, are you physic now Fang? Huh? Have you developed some ability to feel emotions? Or read minds? _How do you know?_" I was getting really steamed now.

Fang was quiet, looking everywhere except at me.

I froze. Did Fang really have some ability that he didn't tell me about?

"Fang?"

"No. I can't feel emotions or see into the future or anything." He still wasn't looking at me.

I crossed my arms. "Fang," I said to him, trying to keep my voice steady and even. "Tell me."

He looked up at me, his dark eyes searching mine, making my heart pound. He was very still for a minute, as if trying to figure out what to say.

"No," he said finally. "I can't do any of that." I observed his face trying to find proof that he was lying. A flash of worry shot through me when I realized that if he was lying, that meant he could be sifting through my thoughts or sensing my emotions and that made me sick to think about.

"I'm serious," he said and I narrowed my eyes. That was just the kind of thing I would expect him to say if he was just reading my mind.

"Max, get real. Would I have some power that I wouldn't tell you about?"

My first thought was, yeah, he would, but then I realized, more realistically that that probably wasn't the case. He would tell me if something like that had happened to him. I looked down.

"Whatever," I mumbled, not wanting to admit that he was right.

"Why were you up so early this morning?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I wasn't up early," I said.

Fang rolled his eyes, "I heard you."

"How do you know it was me?"

"I can tell by your footsteps."

Oh, sure he could.

I looked away, not sure how to respond to that.

"Max?"

"I was talking to Jeb." I was probably better off not lying; he would know if I was anyway.

"About what?" His voice was mildly surprised, but I bet no one but me would be able to tell.

I shrugged, "About what we're going to do and all."

"When are you going to meet their parents?"

"Don't know. I only want to make one trip, you know? Not one per family," I said.

Fang nodded, "Looking forward to it?" he teased, a small smile threatening to spread on his face. I glared at him.

"No, not really," I sighed. And that was the truth. I thought about asking him what I've been wanting to, but decided not to. I didn't want to feel the rejection when he shot me down.

"Nervous?" he teased even more.

"Ha, I'm not nervous," I said, pretending to be offended by his comment. His smile grew more prominent.

"Yeah? Why are you so pale?"

"I'm not pale," I said automatically, not knowing if it was true or not.

He raised him eyebrows, "Yeah, you're just naturally albino."

"Yup, that's right." I couldn't be that pale, I was sure. Someone would've said something before Fang had even brought it up.

He rolled his eyes, but decided to drop the subject. "Come on," he said, "Everyone's probably wondering where we escaped to."

"They're probably thinking that you're out back burying my dead body," I teased as we walked out the door.

He turned to face me, a wicked grin spread across his face that made my pulse race. I gathered up the courage to ask him, digging down deep before my annoying common sense kicked in.

"Fang?" I asked my tone serious.

He looked at me expectantly.

I took a deep breath; there was no backing out now.

"I was…uh…wondering, if…," I couldn't do it.

"Yeah?"

I chickened out, "Never mind." I started to walk past him but he grabbed my arm and hauled me back in front of him.

"What?" he asked, but I couldn't concentrate. We were closer than before and his hand was making my skin get all hot.

"Um…" I stopped. It wasn't fair to ask him. "I uh, think you look more like Johnny Cash." Stupid, stupid, _stupid! _That was all I could think of?!

His mouth quirked into a grin, "While I appreciate that comparison, I _know_ that wasn't what you were going to tell me."

"No, really. That was it," I said, hoping maybe he would forget about it. Fat chance, but still, maybe he would.

"Max…"

"Will you come with Jeb and me?" I said it quickly, all in one breath to get it over with.

He seemed a little surprised, as if that was not what he was expecting me to say. I felt bad about asking him; I didn't know truthfully how he felt about meeting his parents. But I really didn't want to go alone with just Jeb, I kind of wanted a second opinion. Asking Fang to come was the only thing I could think of.

Fang hesitated and looked away.

"You don't have to come, if you don't want to. I don't know how comfortable you are with the situation anyway," I said quickly, rushing through my words.

He looked up at me, "What?"

"Like, meeting your parents," I explained carefully, thinking maybe he wasn't on the same track as I was.

His eyes flashed understanding, and my previous thought was proven correct.

"What?" I asked wanting to know what he was thinking.

Fang shook his head, lost in his own thoughts.

"You don't have to answer me now," I said softly, "You can think about it."

Fang nodded, and then walked out of the room, with me a few steps behind feeling less connected to him than ever.

**Sorry it took so long to update but I was slammed with homework and all this other stuff all of a sudden. The next chapter will come quicker I promise!**


	5. Leavin'

Chapter 5: Fang P

Chapter 5: Fang P.O.V.

Fang sat on the gigantic armchair in the living room, listening to about half a dozen conversations going on, but not taking part in any. Nudge and Gazzy were playing Scrabble!, a difficult game to play with two mutants who were lacked skills in the spelling department. Ella was teaching Angel how to French braid hair, Dr. M. was working at the vets office, and Iggy was absent from the room, probably off thinking about his parents.

Last night, Fang had read the papers on his folks to Iggy. Out of curiosity, Ig had told him he really didn't give a crap about them, but Fang knew better. He could tell Iggy was having a hard time with the whole moving-in-with-his-parents-again thing. He was almost having a harder time than Max.

Fang sighed inwardly. Max had been so distant, so quiet lately. Everyone had noticed. Fang felt really bad, he knew she was worried about her entire family leaving. Scared, even.

But Fang knew that wasn't going to happen. He had about as much proof as you can get. He knew the Flock would never want to split up again; it had been too much pain for everyone.

But he also knew how much the Flock enjoyed being safe and comfortable in a _home_, with beds and food and hot water. And a mom. Max's mom.

Fang glanced towards Dr. Martinez's office, where behind the closed door, Jeb and Max were making phone calls. He had thought about Max's offer a lot. He didn't want to say no and let her down. Fang knew how much Jeb's presense made her uncomfortable. He knew better than anyone, maybe even Max herself.

But Fang didn't want to go. It wasn't about meeting anyone's parents, or even his own. He wasn't worried about that. If his parents would even think about pulling a stunt like Ig's, he would be out of there in a flash. But not before smashing their faces in.

Fang knew the real reason he didn't want to go was because of Max. He didn't think he could handle being alone with her for that long. Well, not completely alone, because Jeb would be there too. But, still. Almost alone. He might explode.

Fang turned away from the door and faced the laptop that balanced on his knees. He was still getting emails. Not nearly as many as before. It amazed him that kids and teens still kept up the hope that he might blog again. Actually, Fang kind of missed blogging. He was secretly thinking of starting a new one, with a fake name and everything. Without anyone knowing it was him.

A door opened and Fang looked up, expecting to see Max, but instead saw Iggy walking down the hall, his steps slow and careful, although he probably could've ran without bumping into anything.

"Yo," Fang said, letting Iggy know where he was.

He leaned against the wall, his head turned in Fang's direction, "What's going on?"

"Not much."

"Max call 'em yet?" he asked, his voice flat and even.

Fang shrugged before he realized Ig couldn't see him, "Don't know."

Iggy nodded, then walked into the kitchen.

Fang looked back down at his laptop, almost hoping all the answers to life's mysteries would flash across the screen. But Fang wasn't that naïve.

"Fang?" Nudge called, then continued when Fang looked up, "Is glarf a word?"

"No."

"Told you so!" Nudge sang to the Gasman, who threw up his hands in outrage.

"Glarf is _too _a word!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is _too_!!"

"Oh, yeah? What does it mean then?" Nudge asked, her hands on her hips.

"Um, you know, like glarfing. To glarf." Gazzy turned to Iggy who was walking into the room with a foot long sandwich, "Help me out, Ig."

Iggy shook his head. "Sorry man, you're on your own with this one."

"Too late! Glarf isn't a word, Gazzy! Give it up!" Nudge shouted.

"Hey! This game isn't timed!"

"Well, you don't have a definition anyway!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Fang was about to step in when his heart sped up, and he heard Max approaching behind him.

"Guys, calm down. Nudge, stop undermining Gazzy, and Gaz, Glarf is not a word. Sorry bud," she said.

"Told you so," Nudge whispered as Gazzy stuck out his tongue.

Max faced Fang, a look of stress and worry written in permanent marker on her face. She was going to have wrinkles before age twenty-five for sure.

"Nice job filling in for me," Max tease, "Can't even stop one of Nudge and Gazzy's minor arguments." She shook her head in mock sadness. Fang rolled his eyes but deep down was glad she had the strength to tease him.

"Max?" Angel got up off the couch to walk over to her.

"Hey, nice hair," Max said, twisting her fingers around one of her braids.

Angel beamed. "Thanks, Ella did them. And she taught me too. But anyway," she said, looking up at Max, her blue eyes almost bugging out of her head. "Did you call our parents?"

"Yes, I did," Max said, looking the slightest bit distracted. Fang bet no one else could tell. "Your daddy is very excited to meet you." She was still playing with Angel's hair.

"_Really_?!" Angel shrieked, then started bouncing up and down on her heels.

"Me too?!" Gazzy asked, getting up of the floor, almost tripping over Nudge.

"Of course you too," Max said, kissing his forehead. When she looked up, she caught Fang's glance and he caught a spark of pain in her eyes.

"What about me? What did they say about me?!" Nudge squealed.

Fang tuned the rest of their conversation out. It wasn't because he didn't care, but he felt a little overwhelmed. Even Iggy, over across the room, sitting quietly, taking huge chunks out of his sandwich was also contributing to his pain. He needed to get out of here.

He glanced at Jeb, who had made his appearance a few moments after Max came in. He was standing in the doorway, watching Max, a slight smile on his face. Fang knew exactly why it was there. He knew better than anyone.

For a moment, he sympathized with Jeb. Fang knew how hard it was for Max to open up, to let anyone in. This too, he knew better thank anyone else. Way better than _anyone_.

Fang felt bad for Jeb for a minute, but only for a minute. Then he realized that he was a possible traitor and that he had hurt the Flock, hurt Max. Badly. Worse than any of them let on. Jeb didn't deserve his sympathy.

Fang snapped his attention back to the present. He was watching Max without actually listening to her explanation of the phone calls she previously made. He was good at that; almost like putting the TV on mute. Fang was good, extremely good at blocking people out. But not as good as Max.

"We're leaving on Friday."

That got Fang's full attention. Max had said that. She was leaving in less than a week. Did that "we" include him, or was it just her and Jeb?

"Are you _sure_ we can't go with you, Max?" Nudge tried not to whine.

"Yup. Positively, absolutely sure," Max said, "Sorry Nudge. Ange, why don't you take Akila outside? Look, she's begging at the door. I'm sure she could use some excerise. Why don't you bring all the dogs with you?"

Angel agreed rather quickly, running off to the back door with Akila and Magnolia on her heels. Total walked up to Max.

"Dog," he scoffed at her.

"I wasn't talking about you, Total," Max said soothingly, a small smile teasing her lips.

"Oh, sure," he muttered but walked to the back door anyway. Max rolled her eyes at Fang which almost made him smile. Almost.

Nudge went along with Angel, bringing along a Frisbee. Ella retreated to the computer in Dr. Martinez's study and Iggy, after much persuasion from Gazzy, went outside to do God knows what.

Max sat down on the couch, leaned her head back so it titled towards the ceiling, and closed her eyes. Fang shut down his laptop and slid it on the coffee table. He desperately wanted to say something to Max, but had no clue what.

He wiped his hands on his black jeans. His palms were getting sweaty.

"Max?" Fang asked his voice calm and smooth. The exact opposite of what he was feeling.

She raised her eyebrows, a motion for Fang to continue talking.

"I'm coming with you." Fang had made up his mind the minute she sat down. This could be his chance. He could tell her everything. Everything he's been lying about, everything he's been hiding from her. Everything.

Max had paused. He wondered what was going through her mind. Every single thought.

"No." She said the word simply, yet very straightforward. Fang tried not to take it personally. "I know you don't want to come," Max said. "So you don't have to. I'm taking back my offer." She kept her eyes closed.

"I'm coming with you." Fang wondered what happened to make Max change her mind. He had already made up his mind and now he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"No you're not," she said, her voice sturdy and smooth.

Max slowly looked up and stared into his eyes. Fang's heart sped up and he felt overwhelmed again.

"You're not planning on changing your mind are you?" She asked, sounding a little defeated, but Fang knew better. It amazed him how easily she could read him. It wasn't like he was an open book or anything.

Fang shook his head, but doubted that would change anything. Max was stubborn. Nothing he said or did was going to change her mind. Unfortunately for her, Fang was stubborn too.

Max leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes again. Fang got the feeling there was something else on her mind.

"Max?" he asked, his blood pumping faster through his veins. She was _so_ close.

Max stayed still and quiet. Her breathing was shallow. Fang wanted to walk over there and just hold her close, but he didn't dare. Max would completely flip out. And that would be the end of that.

Fang didn't know what to do. He could say something, but he didn't want to see her explode. He could stay quiet, but what good would that do?

"Fang?" she asked her voice soft and fragile. She took a deep, shaky breath, "Can you tell me that you're not leaving? Please?" Her voice was just a whisper, almost as if she was talking to herself.

Fang's heart pounded in short, loud, unpredictable spurts. He just hoped Max couldn't hear it.

"I'm not leaving you, Max," he whispered back. "No one is."

Her lower lip trembled slightly, almost not at all, but she bit down on it hard. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, as if that was possible.

Fang got up the courage to move and sit next to Max on the couch. She didn't move. He watched her shoulders rise and fall as she took short, shallow breaths. He waited for her to burst, but she didn't. She controlled herself very well.

There was something else. Something Fang knew Max was keeping from him. The real reason why she was having a hard time with all of this.

"Tell me, Max," Fang said, making it sound like an order but keeping his voice soft at the same time.

Fang watched as Max battled against herself. He didn't try to push his luck; he thought she might snap.

"My birthday's next week," she said, still keeping her eyes closed.

Fang didn't know what to be expecting, but that wasn't it. He also knew that wasn't what was really bothering her.

"How do you know?" Fang was curious, Max wasn't one to care about that kind of stuff.

"The Voice."

Fang knew the Voice was popping in and out less often now then before, but he didn't expect it to share useless amounts of information with Max. She was stalling. There was something else, something that Fang was determined to find out.

"I thought the Voice wasn't talking much anymore."

"Occasionally," she said. "But I still don't know who it is, and it's bugging the crap out of me."

Fang knew that wasn't it either.

"Max…"

She sat up straight and locked her eyes with his. Fang noticed they were slightly bloodshot; she hadn't been getting much sleep lately, he realized.

"They're forcing you to go. They're making you live with your parents." Her voice was hard, tough, but behind all that, hurt.

Fang was quiet for a few moments. He was mildly shocked. He blinked, not quite believing Max had said that.

"Who?" he asked.

Max sighed. "The government. Who do you think? They said that it would look a little suspicious if all of a sudden, six strange kids, all adopted, that looked _exactly_ like the bird-kids from the news showed up at the same school district in some rinky-dink town in Arizona."

"Since when do you listen to the government?" Fang asked, trying to keep his voice even, though now he was not only surprised, but angry, outraged, and slightly upset that Max had kept this from him for so long.

"No one _told_ me any of this, Fang. No one checked with me, or Mom, or any of us. They just kinda made it up." Max shrugged and leaned back into the couch again.

"How did you find out?"

She shrugged again. "The Voice told me."

"Jeb?" Fang guessed.

"I don't know if he had any part in this. He's really upset though, surprisingly. He actually found the information on everyone's parents a while ago, but stalled thinking he could fix this. At least, that's what he told me when I screamed at him." Fang saw something flash behind her eyes, something he didn't recognize.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked.

"I just found out!" She sounded upset, and Fang didn't know why she'd been so moody lately.

"Chill, Max," he said putting his hand on her arm. She pulled away.

"Shut up, Fang. Just... shut up." She closed her eyes again. "You know what's even worse?" Max said softly after a few moments. Without waiting for Fang to answer, she continued, "We can't do anything about it."

Fang wondered if Max was joking. It wasn't like her to just give up. To just let her family get torn away.

"What?" Fang tried to get the surprise off his face.

"Oh, like you weren't going to leave me anyway," she said in a strong tone.

Fang pulled back, hurt, although he would never admit it. He had never planned, or thought about leaving Max. He didn't like the very thought about that. He also didn't think he had the power in him to leave her again anyway.

"And don't pretend that you weren't. I knew you already made up your mind." Max sounded like she was about to cry. Like she had finally reached her breaking point.

"I wasn't Max. I'm still not," Fang said calmly, pretending that he wasn't about to explode.

And that was when she started crying, the tears dancing down her cheeks. She looked at Fang and he felt completely overwhelmed again.

She wiped away the tears before Fang could even do anything.

"Thanks," she whispered brokenly, "For lying."


	6. Trust

Disclaimer: Me no own MR

**Disclaimer:** **Me no own MR.**

**And here's another Bon Jovi song for ya.**

"You watch your whole life pass you by,

Sometime you gotta close your eyes to see."

--Bon Jovi

Chapter 6: Max P.O.V.

"I have decided I officially hate flying in planes," I told Fang while looking out the small window, "I admit, it is faster than flying on our own, but it's too crowded. And the food just sucks." I turned to face him and he nodded.

It had been quite the turn of events this past week. Fang and I decided it was probably best not to tell the younger kids about the whole government-forcing-us-to-be-separated ordeal. We told Iggy, who was pissed, but I thought it was better to just let them leave on their own, although Fang swore no one was going to do that.

That point aside, the younger three were extremely excited about finally meeting their parents. Nudge even gave me a whole list of things to tell her Mom and Dad when we see them this week.

"Be sure to tell them that I'm good with computers. And cars," she said this morning as I was giving everybody hugs goodbye.

"Sure thing, Nudge," I said as I hugged her.

"And that I love MTV. And Gossip Girl," she added.

"You got it."

"And that mint chocolate chip ice cream is my fav," she said, beginning to count on her fingers.

"Should I start writing these down?" I joked.

"Yeah, that might be good," she said thoughtfully. "But anyway, don't forget to say…"

And it pretty much went on like that.

I looked out the window of the plane, though I couldn't see anything but clouds. It had been eerily quiet this trip between Fang and me. I wanted to say something but every time I did, he would just kind of let it float in the air. After a while I gave up and he put his earphones in and drifted away.

Jeb was sitting in the seat across the aisle from us. Occasionally, he tried to start up a conversation with us but it had been pretty awkward when neither Fang nor I wanted to talk to him that much. I think I had already reached my limit with him this week, thank you.

After a while he seemed to give up also and started doing who knows what on his laptop. He could've been playing Solitaire for all I cared.

With Fang on his laptop, too, it sorta felt like I was traveling with middle-aged businessmen. Not that I minded. I kind of liked how no one was paying attention to me for once. It gave me a chance to think. It seemed I had a lot of that to do.

I definitely wasn't ready to let go off my Flock. Especially when they were being forced to separate. If they wanted to go, I could deal with that a little easier because it would be something that made them happy; something that they wanted to do.

What was even worse was that I had no idea who was doing this. Jeb just said it was the government. But government is such a broad term; I had no idea where to start. It was also the government who forced us to get caught up with our schoolwork. And it was the government who was forcing us to stay undercover.

Who the heck were these people?

Although, they did get rid of that stupid, cheesy, Lerner's place, along with the School and about four dozen Itex branches worldwide and jailed their workers, _themselves. _I won't even get started on what other countries did. So they couldn't be all that bad.

Sometimes my sarcasm just cracks me up.

_I assure you Max,_ said the Voice, _These are all good people. _

_Long time, no talk, Voice._ I hoped it could see me roll my eyes and sense my frustration. I knew Fang noticed.

_You know,_ I continued in mock cheeriness, _I was kinda liking you not being around all that much._

_You haven't needed us lately, _it said.

_Wait, _us?I asked.

Of course, it didn't respond.

Great, so now the Voice was more than one person. Unless it meant Jeb and whoever the mystery person was. If Jeb was still using the Voice.

I sighed. It seemed my life was going around in circles some days and taking a one way street down to complication other days. Which is kind of the same thing.

"You okay?" Fang asked.

I waved my hand, "The Voice."

He raised his eyebrows. The Voice wasn't around much these days. It probably surprised him to hear that I had heard from it.

He turned back to his computer. Looking over his shoulder, I started reading a few comments people were still leaving on his blog.

_Why won't you blog again? We miss you! _One said, written by two girls.

_Yo, did you guys finally kick the bucket or what? _Someone wrote from Florida.

_Hey, man. Why ain't u writin'? Whassup with that?_

_Fang, did you and Max finally get together?_

I looked away quickly, my cheeks getting red. I'm pretty sure Fang noticed.

I had some thinking to do about that too.

Fang was staring at me, though I wasn't sure if he was thinking or waiting for me to say something.

"What?" I asked.

He raised one eyebrow, just the tiniest bit.

"I'm fine," I said automatically, turning to stare out the window again.

Fang's hand brushed against my arm and my skin felt hot and bubbly. Goosebumps rose on the back of my neck.

"Max," he said softly.

I didn't move, not an inch.

"Max," he repeated, now more firm.

I swiveled slightly in my seat to look at him. I was acutely aware of his fingers resting lightly on my arm.

"I need to tell you something."

My heart pounded louder and faster. His hand was still on my arm, his grip slightly tighter as if he was holding me steady, or even keeping himself steady.

I waited for him to say something but he stayed quiet. This had come out of nowhere; I wondered if this was maybe the reason why he had been reluctant to keep a conversation going before.

His dark eyes searched mine, and I saw something behind the thick wall he had constructed. I couldn't put my finger on it, and it took me a second to figure out that it was because I had never seen it before.

Fang was scared.

What was he scared of? His family? Leaving the Flock? Jeb?

Me?

"I, uh…" he started, his hand still on my arm.

I didn't say anything. I was still getting over my minor implosion after I learned Fang was scared.

He was never scared. Never. Or at least he never showed it. He had always been the calm, cool one. Never the nervous worrywart.

He looked me dead in the eye, I tried not to focus on him too much. What could be bothering him so much?

Something changed then. Fang's expression softened the smallest fraction, and he no longer looked scared.

"I lied to you before."

I blinked, shocked. Fang had never lied to me. At least, that I knew of. Then again, I never knew him to be scared either.

"Wh-what?" I stuttered.

"About my power."

My eyes were about to pop out of my skull.

"You _do _have a power?" Our voices were soft, nothing above a whisper, but I felt like I should be shouting.

"Yeah, but it's not what you think."

"Well what is it?!" I was hugely miffed that he straight outright lied to my face. I couldn't believe he had done that. This was so unlike Fang.

He hesitated. A funny feeling washed over me. It was like, not only was I about to lose my best friend, but suddenly he had also started lying to me. I felt like I couldn't completely trust him anymore.

And I hated that.

"I can't tell you," Fang said quickly, pulling his hand off my arm.

"What?!"

He didn't answer. Suddenly, everything weird that had been going on in the past couple days fell into place.

He couldn't trust me either. And he hated that.

"You can trust me, Fang," I said, mostly because I wanted to hear those words myself.

He looked down at me, his eyes swirling with emotions I couldn't make out. Was he scared again?

"I know, I just can't tell you. Not yet." His eyes turned apologetic.

"Why? What is so bad about it? Why can't you tell me?"

Fang turned away from me, back to his laptop that had now gone into sleep mode.

"I'm not done talking about this, Fang," I hissed.

He didn't answer. He just rudely put his earphones back in.

I wanted to slap him. Or scream at him. Or something. He could not just say something so huge and not finish it. It was like getting a whole ice cream sundae and only eating two bites. You just don't do it.

I sank into my seat and closed my eyes. Obviously we weren't going to get anywhere with this today. There was no way I was dropping this though. No way.

Fang's hand wrapped around my wrist again. I had no idea what he was doing. All I knew was that he was driving me crazy.

"You mad?" He whispered.

_No freaking duh,_ I wanted to say, but instead I just stayed quiet. I figured the silent treatment would be better than outrage mode. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Max?"

I flush crawled across my collarbone. For a minute there, it actually felt like he cared.

He sighed, but didn't let go of my arm. I could've shaken him off, but for some reason, I didn't.

"You didn't do anything for your birthday," he said.

While, I admit, it was a very good transition, I was still mad at him. I frowned, my eyes still closed. I didn't want to talk about this.

Fang must've sense my reluctance since he removed his hand once again, and I heard him close his laptop. I opened my eyes, and he was looking at me. For someone who I have known my whole life, it seemed like I was growing farther and farther apart from him.

I have never felt so confused and frustrated before. My whole Flock was about to leave me and the last thing I needed right now was to be in a fight with Fang and to have him not trust me. And for me not to completely trust him.

An announcement was made over the intercom saying the plane was going to land in thirty minutes.

I had a half hour to prepare myself for one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Ha, ha. Yeah right.


	7. Disapear

**Dislcaimer: I'm running out of clever sayings. My brain must not be working today. OK, how about… I do not own Maximum Ride. Never have never will.**

**OK OK, I never said I was freaking Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare was pretty awesome. I wouldn't mind being Shakespeare. ANYWAYS, on with the story...**

"That thunder in your heart  
At night when you're kneeling in the dark  
It says you're never gonna leave her  
But there's this angel in her eyes  
That tells such desperate lies  
And all you want to do is believe her."

--Bruce Springsteen

Chapter 7:

Fang sat on the edge of his bed flipping through the channels on TV. He was incredibly bored, hungry, and pretty much miserable. A few of his least favorite things.

He couldn't believe he had just chickened out from finally telling Max. He was _so _close. He had brought up all this courage to tell her, and he froze up.

It was her eyes, those eyes that made him freeze up. When she looked at him…

Fang shook his head absentmindedly. It wasn't like him to just get scared like that. And after all, it was only Max.

But Fang knew it was never just_ only_ Max. No, it was much more than that.

Fang repositioned himself against the back of the headboard, enjoying the peace and quiet. Although he was starving.

Jeb had left to get Chinese food which they were having for dinner, about twenty minutes ago. Max was in the shower and Fang couldn't help thinking that Max was avoiding being alone with him.

He looked around the room, which was pretty nice for a hotel. A tiny kitchenette was next to the bathroom doorway. There were two full-sized beds, and a pull out couch that Max had promptly chosen to sleep on.

Fang heard the water turn on in the bathroom. He knew Max was stalling. She would never take such a long time in the bathroom. She was never the kind of girl to sit and stare at her reflection all day.

Fang looked at the TV screen. Some baseball game was on. Fang couldn't really care less about that. He had too much on his mind.

He was worried about Max. Fang just couldn't believe she was giving up; just letting her family get torn away from each other. Something else was wrong, something she wasn't admitting to Fang, much less herself.

Fang heard the water turn off in the bathroom. He couldn't help thinking it was a rather short shower for such a long time in the bathroom.

He heard Max stumble a few times or something and then he heard a loud_ thunk_ sound. What was she doing?

Fang saw the door open and Max emerged wearing nothing but a pair of dark green mesh basketball shorts and a towel wrapped messily around her torso.

Fang raised one eyebrow but then took a good look at her face and paused.

Her hair was dripping wet; she hadn't dried off at all and her eyes were frantic. She looked nervous and scared. Fang shot up off the bed and walked over to her trying to stay calm. The first thing that came to his mind was her expiration date.

"Fang," Max practically mouthed, "_my wings are gone."_

Fang stopped walking, in shock.

"What?" he asked.

"My wings," she said, her voice shaking. "They just disappeared."

Well, at least he understood the towel.

"Let me see," he said quietly, walking over to her.

Max moved the towel, so it was covering her front only, but not her back. She clutched it tightly, her hands curled into fists around it.

Fang spun her around slightly, his hand on her bear shoulder. He felt goose bumps rise on her skin.

He almost gasped. Taking a good look at her back, his eyes widened a fraction of an inch.

There was nothing there. Her back was completely naked.

Max stood there, fiddling with the towel. She was obviously uncomfortable.

Fang grazed his hand across her back, feeling for anything other than skin. He stopped when Max shivered.

"I can still feel them," Max said. "Just like I can feel my arms. But when I touch my back, they're not there."

Fang didn't know what to do. He had never heard of body parts just disappearing. It was like waking up one morning and realizing your leg just fell off.

Unless…

"Try moving them," Fang suggested, hoping it would work.

Max nodded.

At first, Fang couldn't see anything but then he looked a little closer and he saw the tips of her feathers appearing from under a thin layer of skin.

"They're still there Max," he said. "Try moving them a little more; it looks like they're coming from under your skin."

Wordlessly, she unfurled them a little more.

They paused for a moment, not saying anything.

"I think maybe, your skin grew around them," Fang said. "There's a layer surrounding your wings. I'm not exactly sure though."

Max sighed, relieved, and then adjusted her towel.

"They're still there?" she asked.

"Yeah, but you should have your mom check it out when we get back."

"Yeah."

They both paused again, the silence awkward. Max moved her towel again, trying to make it seem less noticeable.

"Should we tell Jeb?" Max asked.

"Maybe…" Fang responded.

"Well, he might know what's going on."

"Unless this wasn't supposed to happen," Fang pointed out.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"We're changing. Things are happening to us that are not supposed to happen. He might not know about it," Fang explained.

"But maybe he does and can help me," Max suggested.

"But if he doesn't, then that doesn't help us."

"Us?" Max raised one eyebrow.

"You."

"Don't you trust Jeb?" Max asked.

"Do you?" Fang thought that he actually trusted Jeb more than Max, but he couldn't be sure.

"I don't know." Max looked down.

They were quiet for a minute, Fang looking at Max wondering what she was thinking.

"I'm gonna go get changed," she said quietly.

"Hold on," Fang said before grabbing her wrist. This was eating at him since she came out of the bathroom looking all freaked out.

He twirled her around again and swept back her soaking wet hair with one hand so he could get a good look at her neck.

There was nothing there. Completely blank.

Fang let go of her arm.

"What?" Max asked, sounding worried.

"Nothing."

"Fang…"

"Nothing there," he said. "I promise."

One side of Max's mouth curled up into a half smile.

"You shouldn't make all these promises, you know," she warned. "One day they're all gonna come back and bite you in the ass."

Fang smirked and watched her walk back towards the bathroom. Max continued adjusting her towel uncomfortably. It fell a little, showing off some of her skin but Fang didn't see anything before she quickly placed the fabric under her arm.

Not that he was looking anyway.

Fang sat back on his bed, after Max had closed the door, a little dazed. What had just happened? He always felt like this after a talk with Max.

He needed to tell her. Before something happened.

He knew Max knew it. Or was at least wondering about it. Fang knew she was waiting for him to do something. Max would never say anything first.

Max came back out of the bathroom, her hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. Fang had always liked her hair back anyway.

He watched Max opened the mini-fridge and take out a water bottle.

"You know you have to pay for those," he said, just trying to make conversation.

She shrugged and took a sip. Max looked at Fang, then moved to sit next to him on the bed. She stretched out her legs, crossed at the ankles and stared off into space.

"Stressed?" Fang asked.

Max sighed. "This wasn't supposed to happen," she said quietly.

"I know."

"And we can't even do anything about it," she said sounding defeated.

"Why not?" She hadn't actually given up, Fang was sure of it. She just needed a little persuasion, that's all.

"I'm pretty sure the Flock wants to go anyway."

"I don't think so." Actually, Fang knew so.

"How do you _know_?" she asked, looking at him for the first time.

Fang paused for a moment. He thought Max didn't notice, but he couldn't be sure. "I know everything."

"Oh, sure you do," she said, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling and that made Fang's heart pound.

**Sorry for the shortness. And by the way, I am a strong believer that Max and Fang will never, ever share the same bed because there isn't enough place to sleep. One of them will take the floor or something.**


	8. Horror

**You see, this is what happens when I procrastinate my English vocab words until last minute. I end up writing fanfiction.**

**Disclaimer: This always makes me feel depressed, but I still don't own Maximum Ride. **

"I came here like so many did,

To find the better life.

To find my piece of easy street,

To finally be alive."

--Bon Jovi

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Chapter 8:

_We're baaack!_

I felt like some villain from a horror movie or something, about to get to the climax of the plot. All I needed was an evil laugh.

We were parked outside the Griffith's house. Jeb was waiting for my signal, which was a smart move on his part. But I definitely wasn't ready to do this.

Out of no where, Fang put his hand on my shoulder. I looked towards the back of the car where he was sitting, leaning forward in the seat. The worried look in his eyes was asking me all sorts of questions but only one really stood out.

_Are you really going to do this?_

"I'm fine," I lied, and Fang knew it.

"Max?" Jeb asked, and I tried not to look at him.

Last night, after Jeb had come back to our hotel room with the food, we ate dinner with a minimal amount of conversation. Fang and I had opted not to tell Jeb about the whole wing disappearing thing, it was probably better to wait to ask Mom about it when we got home. But every time Jeb talked to me, I felt oddly guilty. Like I was lying to him or something.

But whatever, I knew I couldn't trust him. Not yet anyway.

"Max?" Jeb repeated.

"Let's just go," I said quickly before this turned into a mushy-gushy conversation.

I shrugged off Fang's hand and opened the car door. I marched up the walkway for the third time in my life, and rang the doorbell without checking to see if they were behind me.

They were though, and when Iggy's mom answered the door, she didn't look particularly happy to see neither Fang or me. She quickly glanced behind us towards Jeb, whom she had never met and her face went completely blank. Behind her, stood Mr. Griffiths.

I put on a polite smile, which felt strangely out of place. I should really be grinning evilly before punching their brains out after what they did to Iggy.

Okay, okay, that might be a little harsh, but still.

"Come in," she said and I couldn't deny that I saw a sad look in her eyes. "We've been waiting for you."

We walked into the living room, where I haven't been for a good year or so. Ever since we left Iggy. And now he was leaving us all over again.

Jeb introduced himself by shaking hands with both of Iggy's parents. We then sat in uncomfortable silence. No one said anything. It wasn't my place to start off, even though I desperately wanted to.

"I heard our son is coming home," Mrs. Griffiths said, in an accusatory tone. I figured it was time to play innocent.

"That's right. The U.S. government thinks it's better if the children live with their biological parents for the remaining of their childhood. To have a more normal life," Jeb explained as I winced at some words like "U.S. government" and "children."

The Griffiths exchanged a look before Mr. Griffiths spoke up.

"We had no idea that the government was so involved. We've been seeing sightings and articles and news stories all over the place."

"The government has been moderately involved. Not very much before, but they want to help," said Jeb. "As for the pictures and press coverage, well, that was more accidental," he said, looking in my direction. I just stared back at him. Like it was _my_ fault there were our faces plastered all over the place.

OK, maybe it was.

"We didn't want people to know about us, though," I said, starting to get defensive. "Once people started noticing us, it just went downhill from there."

"But James left us. He didn't explain why. He just ran away. We had accepted him. He was supposedly happy here. We had no idea…" Mrs. Griffiths said sadly.

"You were planning to sell him out," I said gently, not wanting her to get mad and explode. "He didn't want you to tell people, but I guess he must not explained that well."

Her eyes filled with pain, but she didn't say anything. Mr. Griffiths' mouth fell into a hard, thin line, but he didn't respond either.

Fang nudged my shoe, as if to say chill out, but when I glanced up at him, his face showed nothing.

"The press found out about you kids anyway, shortly after James left us. What's the difference?" Mr. Griffiths asked, his tone strained.

Okay, well, one, we weren't kids. Minors, yes, but _not_ kids. Second, the difference was we weren't planning to make ourselves circus freaks. It just _happened._

Of course, I didn't say any of that.

"That was _accidental,_" I said, in the same strained voice. "We had just gotten ourselves into a sticky situation and there was no way out. It wasn't like we had walked up to a magazine company and said, 'Look, we have wings!' It wasn't like that."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang wince slightly. I bet no one even noticed.

Then I remembered how he _did_ go up to a magazine company and almost said, 'Look, we have wings!' Right after he left me.

It seemed like everyone was leaving these days. I quieted down and didn't pay attention to what Jeb said next and whatever was Mr. Griffiths' response.

"Look," Jeb said, when I was paying attention again. "When Iggy comes back, you cannot make this public. No one will know where he is staying. No one except the Flock and the government. They have been taking special care of this delicate situation and how to proceed. These kids have been hiding for nearly a year now and especially since no one had noticed, the government would like to keep it this way."

I knew the familiar look on Jeb's face. He was extremely angry but was doing a pretty good job of covering it up. I was getting pretty annoyed at how everyone was calling us kids all of a sudden. It wasn't like we were kids.

They were quiet, both of them not speaking. I looked over at Fang, who stared at me straight on, his face calm and smooth.

Finally, Mrs. Griffiths sighed. Then she looked at each of us, her eyes incredibly sad. It hurt to look at them, but it hurt even more to know that Iggy was leaving us. Again.

"James is coming back home?" she clarified.

"Yes," Jeb said. "Iggy is coming to live with you."

The Griffiths both smiled and I watched Mrs. Griffiths start to tear up. I had the feeling they were holding back a lot.

"Are you guy's hungry? I can get you something to snack on. I know how much James like to eat," said Mrs. Griffiths, playing nice hostess.

Fang and I looked at each other, a little surprised. I guess if I just found out that my son was coming home I would be a little kinder to the people bringing him back to me, too.

"Uh, sure. That would be great," I said painting a smile on my lips. She smiled back and disappeared into the kitchen.

Fang placed his hand unexpectedly on my arm.

"You okay?" he asked very quietly.

Acutely aware of how all of a sudden my arm was on fire, I nodded and sat back a little into the couch. Fang still looked at me, but I didn't bother to figure out what was going through his mind.

Iggy's mom returned into the living room, carrying a medium sized bowl of pretzels and some drinks. She set them on the coffee table and then sat back down next to her husband.

"Thanks Mrs. Griffiths," I said reaching for a cup.

"Oh, please call me Susan," she said and she seemed pleased by something.

I smiled and nodded.

And that was villain Max's first attempt at a formal meeting with the Flock's 'rents. I thought it went pretty well.

Except, of course, for the gaping hole that was left in the middle of my chest, not seeming to get any smaller anytime soon.

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**So sorry for the incredibly long wait and the incredibly short chapter. The next one will be longer, quicker, and a hundred times more interesting. Have a wonderful holiday!**


	9. Meeting

**Whoa, long time no update…**

**Disclaimer:: I am so not feeling creative for the moment. I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**________________________________________________________________________**

"I'm hanging on the ropes of hope,

It's getting hard to cope you know."

--Bon Jovi

________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 9: Max POV

Right away I could tell this trip was going to get real old, real fast.

We were in some rental car, driving on some highway, on our way to Fang's mom's house. It was around a four hour car drive, which made me feel better that Fang and Iggy were so close to each other.

Fang was sitting in the passenger seat, next to Jeb, listening to his iPod. I was in the back staring out the window as I had been for the past three or so hours.

Last night, after we had got back from eating dinner, I had called the Flock for a much needed phone call. Iggy seemed very uninterested in his parents. But it still felt good to hear all of their voices and to talk with them.

After the phone call, Fang had pulled me aside and told me about the clear membrane that had appeared on his back. He said it wasn't as apparent as mine, but we still opted not to tell Jeb. It wasn't like he would be able to do anything about it anyway.

So now we were talking part in a very silent road trip. And by silent, I mean _silent._ I don't remember anyone saying a word since we left the hotel.

But about twenty later, Jeb broke that lovely silence.

"Look out for exit sixteen," he said and Fang and I answered, then fell back into comfortable quietness.

I wasn't paying attention when Jeb turned off the highway. It wasn't until I started noticing restaurants and gas stations that I realized we've hit suburbia. My mind had been else where.

"Here, read these aloud," Jeb told Fang as he handed him directions that I had watched him write down back when we made the phone calls.

I easily read Fang's hesitation and, took to how my own heart was just about to implode; it was just then that I realized how nervous Fang was.

I leaned forward in my seat and took the paper from Fang's hand. He turned his head towards me, surprised.

"Turn right at the first traffic light, and then turned left onto Cleveland Drive," I read as Jeb glanced back at me.

"Are you buckled in?" he asked, then focused back on the road.

I rolled my eyes, annoyed. Like that really mattered.

"Watch out for Cleveland Drive," Jeb instructed us.

After about five minutes of Jeb driving and me giving directions, we pulled onto a wealthy looking street with large houses and bright green grass. I watched Fang as he took it all in with curious eyes.

Jeb parked his car in front of a navy blue house, which looked a bit modest for the neighborhood. The entire front yard was completely filled with plants and flowers. A silver suburban was parked in the driveway.

I gave Fang one last glance over before he got out of the car. He looked cool and collected but I knew him better.

I walked next to him as we approached the house. I wanted to do something to comfort him, but was too scared to. I didn't know how he would react.

We walked casually up the steps and Jeb rang the doorbell. Fang stood there as a statue as I tried to contain my nervousness. I knew that if I was acting this way, then Fang must be flipping out. Not that he would show it.

I heard tiny footsteps running closer to the door.

"Mommy, Mommy! Someone's here! Someone's _here!_" a little boy's voice shrieked on the other side of the door.

"I heard you Mikey," replied a woman. "Let me get it, alright?"

I looked at Fang. He didn't look much different than he did a moment ago. Except his eyes. Those looked jittery.

I nudged his arm with my elbow. He seemed indifferent.

I heard the door unlocked and then it opened. A smiling woman with tanned skin and shoulder length reddish brown hair was in the doorway. I recognized from the pictures that this was Fang's mom.

They looked more alike than I thought. From the photos, I couldn't see a resemblance anywhere. But here, in person, it was completely different. They had the same eyes, same face shape, and same nose. I could also tell where Fang got his smile from.

"Mommy, who are they?" the boy asked, looking at us curiously.

"I believe this is Jeb," she started, pointing at him. "And Max." I nodded and forced a smile on my face. It was harder that I thought. "And…Fang?" When he nodded, her smile grew larger.

"I'm Danica," she said extending her arm to Jeb. "And this is Michael. Or Mikey," she said, squeezing his shoulder. Fang was staring.

"Well, come in, come in. It's scorching outside."

She led us though the entryway, then through the living room and let us sit around a large table in what seemed to be the dining room.

The house was not as I expected. It seemed familiar and cozy and looked a lot more intimidating from the outside. I tried to not let my gaze linger on the pictures hanging on the wall.

"Are you guys' hungry? Did you have lunch already?" she asked, heading into the large connected kitchen.

"Yes, we stopped along the way," Jeb responded.

"How was the drive?" she asked. "You were in Washington, right?"

"Yes. It wasn't bad. Not too long," Jeb answered. Fang and I were just standing there, trying not to stare at the walls.

"Yeah, it's not a bad car ride. We sometimes go down for a weekend or something." She turned to Michael and handed him a cup of juice. "Hey, Mike, why don't you go downstairs to the family room and put on a show, ok?"

"Ok," he said, then ran off.

Danica turned back to us. "Please sit down." She motioned to the chairs around the table.

We took our seats and I scooted my chair a little closer to Fang. Our eyes met, but his were flat, expressionless. I wondered what he was thinking.

"Well," she said, calmly. "Where should we start?"

Everyone was quiet. I wanted Fang to say something, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Your house is very nice," I said lamely. "Big."

She smiled. "Thanks."

It was quiet again. I was having car ride flashbacks already. This was not a good place to start.

"Have you ever been to this part of the country?" she asked.

I looked at Fang. He had no intention of responding, I could tell.

"We were in New York City before. About a year ago. Little less maybe," I answered.

"Yeah, we go there often. It's only about an hour an a half away. Rob actually works in the city."

I remembered looking in Fang's files that Jeb had found and recognized that Rob was Fang's step-dad.

I nodded, not knowing what to say to that. Fang was quiet, just sitting there, not talking at all. Jeb hadn't said anything at first, so when he spoke up, it surprised me.

"What do you do for a living?" he asked.

"I'm a guidance counselor for a high school about forty minutes away from here. Schools already out for the summer there," she answered.

I glanced at Fang, seeing his reaction and was a little disappointed. This was his mother, and after fifteen years of not knowing her, you would think he would show even the slightest hint of emotion. I couldn't tell what he was thinking at all.

"Have you two ever gone to school before?" she asked, her question pointed at Fang.

He looked at her and I prayed that he was going to answer.

"A few months," he answered. He turned his head towards me as Danica smiled.

"It was horrible," I said.

"Most kids think that," she said sympathetically.

Fang was looking at me, his eyes trying to tell me something. I pulled my eyebrows together in confusion. What did he want?

Then I got it. He wanted me to steer the conversation. I narrowed my eyes at him. Fang just stared right back. I kicked his foot lightly.

"What have you done up until now?" Danica asked us again.

"Running," I said truthfully. "We grew up in California. Then we lived in Colorado for a little while. After that, we moved around a lot."

"Must be tough, having to move from place to place," Danica said.

Fang nodded.

"Sometimes," I said. Beats living in a cage.

Uncomfortable silence met us then. No one said anything. Jeb was being uncharacteristically quiet; I almost forgot he was there. It was very nice, if only for a moment.

"How did this happen?" Danica asked, her voice a whisper.

Fang and I looked at each other. Jeb didn't say anything.

"Some lame scientists decided it would be beneficial to take innocent human babies and turn the into lab rats," I responded.

Jeb winced at my harsh words and Danica's face softened.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

For a moment no one said anything. Jeb was looking at me, I was looking at Fang, and Fang was looking at the table.

"What's it like to fly?" Danica asked.

Her question took both Fang and me by surprise. I hesitated and Fang looked up at her.

"Incredible," I answered.

"Like nothing else," Fang said, his voice getting deeper for a moment.

"Really?"

Fang nodded. "Really."

And that pretty much set the mood for the rest of the afternoon.

We talked some, me doing much of it, Fang adding things when I forgot, or when he felt like he needed to respond, and Jeb filling in for the more scientific questions.

At one point, we got onto the topic of her having Fang. I'm not really sure how it happened, but we were talking about it and Danica was pretty comfortable with it.

"I was going to give you up for adoption," she said. "It was only one night. I was with my boyfriend who was going off to college in the fall and we were breaking up. He took me to one of his parties and a few beers or so later…well, you get the point." She smiled. "I completely do not recommend it though."

That was that. I thought we were done talking about it until Fang asked, "Do you still talk to him?"

Danica nodded. "Yeah, we kept in touch, which is nice. I told him about you, you know, coming here now, but we decided not to force anything at first. He's married, with two year old twin girls, who, by the way, are adorable."

I smiled, and Fang's lip curled at the corners.

We talked comfortably for a little while. She asked about the School and Fang and I gave her the water down version. Fang talked about his now nonexistent blog. I explained the complexity of our eating habits. Jeb explained the whole we-need-to-be-kept-a-secret-or-the-United-States-government-will-completely-explode issue.

But after a while I got this sinking feeling in my chest. And a voice in my head, not the Voice fortunately, kept saying, _this is it. He's really going to leave me. _

And what made it a heck of a lot worse, was that I actually liked Danica. She was polite and nice and understood that we weren't normal kids with normal boundaries. And the more we kept talking, the more and more I felt comfortable with her. And Fang noticeably did too.

She reminded me of Mom. Maybe all moms were just cool like this. Or maybe it was a rare special handful and me and Fang just got lucky.

Around two-thirty, the front door opened. A girl with light brown hair pulled into a sloppy bun was standing in the doorway, an iPod in her ears. She had sunglasses on top of her head and a brown paper bag in her hands.

"I am officially done with finals!" she shouted. "No more German class _ever!_ I am _done!_"

She walked down the hallway, and then stopped. I guess she was just noticing how Fang and I were just sitting there; staring at her like the summer heat was a little too much for her.

"Oh," she said, her cheeks getting pink. "Hi."

I smiled at her as she walked by. Opening the fridge door, she put in the brown bag in and grabbed a water bottle.

"Stephanie, this is Max, Fang, and Jeb," Danica said.

Stephanie stopped, mid-sip. "_Oh._"

She walked over to the table we were sitting at and plopped her bag on the ground. It said _Save the Planet_ in green letters.

"Well, that was embarrassing," she said, and Fang raised his eyebrows.

Stephanie caught me staring at her bag. "You like it?" she asked me. "I got it for five bucks. It was on clearance." She was obviously pleased with this fact.

"Yeah, it's cool," I said. Fang looked at me, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, I know. I'm all for the whole, like, save the world thing, you know?"

"Yeah, me too," I said, and Fang looked like he was about to crack up. "Story of my life," I added.

Fang smiled, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Jeb shake his head. "Max," he said, sounding a little amused. I smiled at him.

Stephanie laughed, although I don't think she got the joke.

"Steph, get the iPod out of your ears," Danica said, and then turned to Fang smiling. "I was wondering, if it was comfortable with you, if you would like to stay the night."

This now, took me by surprise. Fang hesitated visibly, and I didn't want to say anything.

"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. I know you have to go tomorrow, meet everyone else's parents, but it's just for the night…"

"Max?" Fang said looking at me.

"What?" I asked him. "You don't have to ask permission."

Fang didn't say anything.

"Stay," I said, putting Fang first. "Your bag is in the car." Then I gave him a look that read, if-you-don't-stay-the-night-I-might-just-have-to-chop-off-your-arm-and-beat-you-with-it.

"I'll stay," Fang said.

Danica beamed. "Excellent."

I followed Fang out to the car after we excused ourselves. I wanted to talk to him alone for a minute.

"You'll be ok, right?" he asked me. "With Jeb?"

"I've had worse," I answered. One corner of his mouth rose.

"I really like her Fang," I said to him, once he closed the trunk and we were facing each other. "She's good for you."

Fang nodded.

"I'm real happy for you," I told him, meaning it.

"I know," he said, his eyes swirling with emotions I didn't recognize.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "She's nice." But the way he said it, I could tell he really liked her.

"I'm not leaving you, Max," he said, forcefully, out of the blue.

I rolled my eyes. Not this again. "Whatever, Fang."

"It's only a night," he said.

"I know."

"And I'm coming with you tomorrow."

"I know," I said, now getting annoyed.

Fang gave me once long look, and then shrugged again.

"I'm glad this turned out well," I said to him.

Then I gave Fang a quick hug. For him. He looked like he needed one. He placed his hand gently against my back; like this was something he did all the time.

When I pulled back, Fang was staring at me. "What was that for?" he asked, like he already knew the answer.

Now it was my turn to shrug.

His mouth did his signature upturned corners thing, as we made our way back inside.

"I'm really not leaving you," he said quietly as we walked back in through the door.

"I know," I lied.

**AHHHH!! Guys, I am soooooo, terribly, horribly sorry!!! TIMES A BILLION. **

**My beta wasn't getting back to me, and my friend was like, oh, I can do it, but I'm posting now. AND I am already half way done with chapter 10. Considering I was typing it the other day, and completely didn't save and deleted the eight pages I had written. Oops.**

**Please don't hate me. I'll update sooner. I promise!**


	10. Worry

**LA LA LA …**

**On with chapter 10!**

**Disclaimer: Whatever, I have no imagination at the moment. Max Ride = not mine.**

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I've cried and I've cried

There were nights that I died for you, baby

I tried and I tried to deny

That your love drove me crazy, baby.

--Bon Jovi

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Chapter 10: Fang P.O.V.

Lying down on the bed, Fang was staring at the ceiling. It was six in the morning and he had only gotten about three hours of sleep. But he wasn't tired.

Downstairs, someone was in the kitchen. Fang couldn't tell who it was, but he was resisting the urge to go down and get something to eat. He was starving.

Last night, Fang had met Rob, his step-dad. Fang had decided that he was pretty cool, considering the only dad-like figure he ever had was Jeb and look what a party that had turned out to be.

After Max and Jeb had left yesterday, Fang got to know Danica a little better. She was nice, but he didn't completely trust her yet. He knew that to begin with, that it would take some time. Out of the entire flock, it was Fang who had the hardest time trusting people. After everything that happened with him, he knew it would take a while before he could completely open up to his new family.

Pushing back the covers, Fang climbed out of the bed. Making his way downstairs, he saw that Danica was making breakfast. He wondered why she was up so early if she didn't have to go to work or anything.

She turned towards him when he entered the kitchen. She smiled.

"Good morning," Danica said.

Fang nodded and went to go get a mug. He poured in some coffee.

"Did I wake you? Or were you already awake?" she asked.

Fang sat down on a stool at the island. Her back was to him as she was flipping over the other side of the omelet she was making.

"No, I was awake," he said after he took a sip of his coffee.

"Do you usually get up this early?" she asked, taking the pan and turning to face him.

"Mostly," he said as he watched Danica carefully replace the omelet on her plate. She smiled.

"Can I make you anything? Are you hungry?"

Fang almost smiled. "I'm always hungry."

Danica smiled and looked up at him. "Ok, what sounds good?"

"Anything's fine."

She talked while cracking the eggs into the pan.

"So, tell me about the School," she said.

"It was bad," Fang answered, looking down into his coffee mug.

"What happened?" Danica asked.

Fang was silent for a few moments. "I don't want to talk about it," he said quietly after a few moments.

"I'm sorry. Don't feel pressured to talk about anything. Forget I asked," she said sympathetically. "Sometimes, I get a little overboard with the questioning. I majored in psychology. Steph calls me her personal shrink."

Fang hesitated before asking. "Is Stephanie your real daughter?" Fang already knew the answer, but he wanted to know the story behind it.

"No," Danica said. "She's Rob biological daughter, but I raised her like one. I consider her my own daughter. She's fifteen, going to be sixteen in December."

Fang nodded and poured himself another cup of coffee.

"I met Rob after Stephanie was born. Her mother was going to give her up for adoption, but Rob had wanted to keep her. Stephanie doesn't keep in touch with her mom that much. I don't think she minds it though," Danica explained.

Fang nodded again and Danica set his plate in front of him.

She took a seat at the corner of the island, sort of next to him. Her hand was propping up her head and she was staring at Fang curiously.

"So," Danica said after a few moments. "Tell me about yourself."

Fang swallowed, not knowing where to start. He wasn't good at this whole, let's share our emotions thing. He didn't like talking about himself. It made him feel uncomfortable.

Fang was quiet, taking huge bites out of his eggs, trying to think of something to say.

"Tell me about your family," Danica said.

Fang looked up. Most people didn't pick up on his hesitation easily.

"Sure," he said.

Over the course of at least an hour, Fang had talked the most he had ever talked in one sitting in his entire life. He didn't remember ever saying so much. He talked about the flock and their powers and their personalities and everything. Fang was so talkative that he was beginning to scare himself. Rob had even come down for breakfast and was listening in.

"What about Max?" Rob asked now. "I didn't meet her yesterday."

Fang shrugged. "She's Max. She likes to be in charge." Fang was trying to keep this particular subject short. He didn't really want to go into descriptive detail about Max. He didn't think that would help him any.

"Well, you'll meet her soon. She and Jeb are coming in a half hour or so. What time is your flight?" Danica asked.

"Nine thirty," Fang answered.

"So they should be here soon," she said and Fang nodded.

At that point, Mike came bounding down the stairs.

"Hey, Fang!" he said, gripping the edges of the countertop while he bounced up and down next to Fang's seat.

"What?" Fang said.

"Come, on! I wanna show you my game! Come _on!_"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Fang said, and followed Mike down the stairs to the family room.

"Look, it's this real cool video game, see?! And you use the wheel, and get to drive a car, and hey, Fang? Are you watching?" Mike said, tugging on his shirt.

"Yeah, I'm looking," Fang said.

"Ok, here," Mike said, shoving a plastic wheel at him and then pressing the button on the TV to turn it on.

"Wait, how does it work?" Fang asked the little boy, who was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"You press this button, ok?" he said, standing on the couch behind Fang, peering over his shoulder.

"Hey, let's sit down, alright?"

"Yeah, ok, Fang," said Mike, but he was still standing; now navigating through the screens of the video game.

Fang had picked up that this kid was a handful last night during dinner. Mike had pretty much used up every excuse a four year old could think of for not eating his meal. And then after, he had tried to make his bedtime even later than already compromised.

Now, Fang listened to him scream and shriek as he steered his car on the TV. At least he had gone from standing on the couch to practically sitting in Fang's lap. But Fang didn't mind.

"How come you keep winning?" Fang asked, about four or fives races later.

Mike giggled. " 'Cause, I'm better!"

"Oh, that makes sense," said Fang, and Mike beamed.

"Hey, Fang," Danica's voice came from the top of the stairs. "Max and Jeb are here."

Mike turned to face Fang. "Who's Max?" he asked.

"The girl you met yesterday. Remember?" Fang replied.

Mike scrunched up his face, thinking. "Was that the one with the yellow hair?" he asked.

Fang almost smiled. He hadn't exactly realized that Max hair had gotten lighter. It always gets light in the summer and to other people it must've been noticeable. It bothered Fang how he hadn't seem to have realized.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"I liked her," Mikey said. "She was very pretty."

Fang paused, not knowing how to respond to that one. Thankfully, he didn't have to, as Max came running down the stairs.

"Hey," she said. "Hey, Mikey. Whatcha playing?"

Mike beamed. "Oh, it's this awesome game where you have a car and everything! Its so cool, and I was playing with Fang, and guess what! I won every time!"

"Whoa," Max said, giving Fang an incredulous look. Then she turned back to Mike and raised her eyebrows. "Every time?"

"Yeah! He's really bad," he said and Max laughed. Then she turned to Fang, still smiling. But Fang noticed a frantic look in her eyes and he began to worry in that overprotective way he has.

"So," she started. Fang pulled his eyebrows together. "Jeb's upstairs. And we don't want to be late for our flight."

"Who's Jeb?" Mike asked.

"Do you remember the man that was here with Fang and me yesterday?" Max asked.

"Oh, yeah, I remember." Mike frowned. "I don't like him. He's real scary."

Max glanced at Fang and smiled. "Yeah, he can be pretty freaky sometimes."

"Yeah," Mike agreed. "_Really _freaky."

Max laughed and Fang had to bit back a smile. As Max started to usher Mike up the stairs, Fang strayed behind until he heard Mike reach the top. Then he grabbed Max's wrist.

"Wait," he said, pulling her back down a step.

She looked worried. "What's wrong?" she said, and then glanced down at her hand, and Fang released his grip.

"You ok?" he asked.

Max nodded. "Fine. Let's go. We're going to be late."

"Wait," Fang said again. "There's something you want to tell me." He could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted to talk about something. It was only a matter of prodding it out of her.

"No there isn't," she said, looking confused.

"Max," he started but she cut him off.

"Look, not now, alright? I'll tell you later."

"Max now is perfect. Unless you want to talk about it in front of Jeb."

Max sighed and then looked him straight in the eye. "Uh," she said. Then looked back down. "I think I know who the Voice is," she said quickly, as if to get it over with. Fang's eyes widened a fraction of an inch.

"Jeb accidently let it slip when I asked him about being the Voice, or using the Voice, or whatever, and he said _'Well, she and I both think…'_ then seemed to catch himself. Do you know what this means?" she hissed, under her breath. "It means the Voice, the real one, is a woman!"

Fang honestly had no idea what to do. This was all Max's territory. He would give Max advice in anything she ever would dream of asking him, but the Voice was something he had no clue about. He didn't know how it worked, or what it said, and Max was very reserved about it. She didn't like to talk about it much.

"Who do you think it is?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure it someone who knows me," she said. "Just by the way it talks about things. It like they know me inside and out. Which in this case, they probably do…. But I think… it might be Anne."

Fang's eyes widened again. "Anne?" he asked, surprised.

"It's the only one that makes sense," Max explained.

"Anne?" Fang asked again.

Max was quiet for a few moments. Looking down at him, Fang caught a sense of panic and worry in her eyes. He never really entirely knows everything Max was thinking or feeling 24/7. It bugged him, only because she was so reserved. With the things that mattered, really mattered, she kept things bottled up inside. Fang had thought that the Voice might be helping her deal with things her own way. Since it hadn't been around much lately, Fang figured that it was because Max had been coming to Fang.

But, if Max's theory, that Anne was the Voice, then Fang was furious. He didn't want _her_ in Max's head. It made sense, for Anne to be the Voice. But Anne was poison.

"Anne's in jail," Fang reminded her.

Max thought about this for a minute. "Right. I forgot about that." Max bit her lip. "Whatever. Let's just go to the airplane and get on a plane and get out of here. We'll deal about this later. We'll deal about everything later."

Max started to march right back up the stairs with fang right behind her. Worried about Max, Fang hoped she was wrong about Anne. Max hadn't been coming to Fang about her problems lately. He didn't mind so much, but he hoped that she had been finding some way to deal with them. If she didn't, she was going to crack.

And Fang had a feeling he wasn't going to be there for it.

**AHHHH MAX FIVE COMES OUT TOMORROW!!!!**

**Well, I am so sorry for such a late review. I wanted to get it out before the fifth book comes out. So by about two hours, I have reached my goal. YAY!**

**But I did get it out quickly…ish. I need to start a schedule. **

**I hope this chapter is good. Fang is such an awkward character that I had honestly no clue what to with him and his parents. And his brother. It was weird. **

**So, this is seriously the third time I wrote this chapter. The first one was a mess, so I just kinda took parts of it and then completely rewrote it. And then, way back before I updated chapter nine, I finished this hoping to update two at once.**

**But then, stupid me, clicks the little X button in the corner and the little "do you want to save your changes" thingy comes up, and I'm like "oh, wait, I forgot a disclaimer" so I click NO, and then eight pages get throw away into cyberspace.**

**Yes, I am an idiot. I have realized.**


	11. Different

**Well, I have really no qualifying excuse for taking about three months to update, so I'm just gonna go right to a disclaimer.**

**I, PG do not own Maximum Ride.

* * *

**

"When love is blind

Sometimes the lies can get you through the night,

I'm holding onto what I need

Till you're too tired to fight."

--Bon Jovi

* * *

Max POV

"You alright?" Fang asked me, his voice floating around my head, his hand resting on my arm.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

I gave him a look, and then turned my gaze back to the clouds. Suddenly I felt a little claustrophobic as Fang leaned in and lowered his voice.

"Seriously, what's up?" he asked, his tone strong and stern.

"Nothing, Fang," I said. "Leave me alone."

"Someone's grouchy," he stated.

"I just don't like airplanes. That's all," I replied, not turning to face him.

"That's only because your mind is in a negative place," he said calmly.

"Who are you, my yoga teacher?"" I asked. Fang almost smiled.

"I could be. Do you want me to be your yoga teacher?"

"No."

He was quiet, thankfully, for a few moments. It was always when I wanted him to talk that he was quiet, and when I wanted him to leave me alone, he just wouldn't shut up. Typical.

I could still feel his stare as I gazed out the window, my mind off in the middle of the universe. I heard Fang click on the mini TV in front of him, knowing he wasn't watching. I turned to look at him.

"I'm worried," I said quietly.

"About what?" His eyebrows pulled together and his eyes searched mine, making my stomach flip.

"Everything," I said, flopping my head back on the seat.

"It'll be alright," he whispered, placing his hand on my arm.

"How do you know?" I said, rolling my eyes to question.

"Because it always is."

I sighed. "That's not a decent answer."

"Max," Fang said. "You really have nothing to worry about."

"Fang! How can you say that?" I asked, outraged. After everything that's happening, everything that's going to happen, with meeting the flock's families and then them leaving me and Anne possibly being the Voice, and our wings disappearing, it was all too much. And I had expected Fang to understand, but apparently, he didn't.

"Can't you just forget about it?" he asked. "Just for a little while?"

"No, not really."

"You can try," Fang said, leaning even closer.

"I can't! My family is leaving me, the Voice is evil, I haven't seen any of the flock in three days, and we're on a freaking metal contraption that could fall out of the sky at any minute! And you're telling me to—" I stopped abruptly, as Fang slowly pulled a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Uh," I started, staring at him, his eyes following the trail of his hand as it moved down the side of my face and below my chin. Fang wasn't paying attention.

"You just need to forget about it. Not for forever, just for now," he said his voice soft and smooth. "Just relax."

"You're not really helping me relax," I said carefully, my breathing uneven.

"Oh?" His hand started a new pattern, tracing its way under my hair to the back of my neck. It was safe to say I was going crazy.

"Fang," I asked him, staring into his eyes, "what are you doing?"

"Waiting for a response," he said.

"What?" I asked, confused. "A response to what?"

I didn't get an answer.

Fang pulled me closer to him slowly pressing his lips to mine as my eyes opened wide. His hand squeezed my neck slightly and his other hand was on my cheek. He pulled back quickly, not even giving me time to react. I could see his shoulders rising and falling as he looked into my eyes.

"See?" he whispered. "Nothing to worry about."

This was completely untrue, unless he meant I was allowed to worry about everything.

Fang's eyes were holding mine, his warm hand squeezing the back of my neck very slightly. His breathing was quick and short, although I couldn't figure out why he was so out of breath. I was trying to think of something to say, anything, and was just about to yell at him, when he leaned in again.

And like before, his lips meet mine. The hand that was on my neck was starting to mess with my hair and his other was trailing across my jawbone. His eyes were closed and his mouth was moving slowly and gently against mine.

And then, because apparently my life just could not get any more confusing or complicated or horrible or anything like that, I closed my eyes, leaned into him, and kissed him back.

Truthfully, I don't know who was more surprised, me, or him. But there was a definite smile on his face when I slowly moved my arms around his neck and as he pulled me closer, one hand on the small of my back.

For the longest time, we stayed there, just kissing, taking our time. I had a brief, embarrassed thought that Jeb might be watching from his seat behind me, but Fang had moved his hand down to my hip and the thought just flew out of my mind. All I could think of, from then on was, _Ohmygosh, this feels sooo amazing. Why aren't we doing this all the time?_

Sad, I know.

Eventually, we split apart, Fang pulling back first, a smug expression painted across his face. He was still holding me, and my arms were still wrapped around him. And for some reason that I didn't understand, I didn't feel like moving.

And, ok, maybe I understood. Maybe.

I realized that Fang was staring at me, with something in his eyes that looked like amazement.

"What?" I asked. Was he making fun of me?

He smiled. "You didn't run away."

My breath caught and my heart started sputtering. "Well," I started. "There was no where to go."

His smile grew larger, at least for Fang standards. "Still."

I rested my head against his shoulder, breathing in his scent, and just closed my eyes. After a while, I had fallen asleep.

Now, someone's hand was on my shoulder, rubbing small circles, stating my name over and over.

"Max," he said. "Max?"

I blinked furiously, trying to gain my bearings. Fang was staring at me, and I raised my head, my neck tensing at the awkward position I fell asleep in. I sat up straighter, but then realize that I wasn't sitting next to Fang, and I wasn't in a plane.

I was by myself, in the backseat of a car. Fang was sitting in front of me, and Jeb was in the driver's seat. Looking out the window, I noticed about four or five kids skateboarding down the street. The houses were average, not to big, but not crummy either. I turned back to Fang.

"Where are we?"

Jeb answered, "Nudge's house."

Silence.

"But…" I said. "We were just on the airplane."

"About a half hour ago," Jeb responded.

"No," I said, confused. "We were on the airplane and Fang and I were--,"

_Oh._

Of course. It was all a dream. Duh. Fang and I would never actually do that. We would never actually kiss like that. Of course it was just a dream.

So why was I so disappointed?

"Max?" Fang asked when I didn't finish my sentence. "What were we doing?"

I flushed madly. "Oh, nothing. Never mind," I stuttered. "Let's go." I opened the car door and started walking up the walkway.

"Max," Fang called. I turned to glare at him.

"Wrong house."

I blushed even more. "I knew that," I said, walking swiftly over to where he was standing. He glanced down at me, a smirk on his face.

"So," Fang said as we followed Jeb to the front door. Two kids stopped and watched us curiously. "What were we doing on the plane?"

"Nothing," I hissed.

"Doesn't seem like nothing." He sounded amused.

"Drop it."

Jeb rang the doorbell, either ignoring us, or just being completely oblivious to our bickering. I, however, was acutely aware of Fang's sideways glance.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"It had to be something, if you're blushing so much," he whispered. I was about to answer him, when the door flung open.

"Oh!" A short and plump dark-skinned woman answered the door, wiping her hands on her skirt. "You must be Jeb," she said, reaching out her hand. She glanced at me. "And you're… Max?" she questioned. "Well, I'm Sophie. Please, come in."

She held open the door for us, and led us into a very tidy living room, looking kind of nervous. We sat down, and she called for her husband, who came down the hall.

"Hello," he said warmly. "I'm Henry." He held out his hand to Jeb who stood up and introduced himself. Then he turned to Fang. "You must be Max," Henry said sticking out his hand again.

"Uh," Fang said, as Jeb sat back down and Sophie smiled uncomfortably.

"Actually," I said, "I'm Max."

Henry looked a little embarrassed. "Oh," he said. "I'm so sorry."

I smiled, because I had no other idea what to do. No one ever confused Fang with me before. "It's no big," I said, waving my hand.

"I'm sorry," Henry said, turning back to Fang. "I don't know…"

"It's Fang."

After our whole, awkward introduction thing, we sat in silence for a bit, while Henry spoke up again.

"I understand you're the ones bringing our little girl back home."

I looked down at my hands while I answered. "That's the plan."

More silence. Looking up, I noticed that Sophie was beginning to tear up and Henry was trying very hard to keep his cool.

"But there are some things we have to discuss," Jeb said.

Both of them looked surprised. "Like what?"

Fang glanced at me. We didn't tell them anything about the School, or the past year or so, over the phone. It just seemed simpler to do it in person. Except, now I was wishing Jeb had told them earlier.

Jeb spoke up. "There are some… strings that coming with returning your daughter."

Henry narrowed his eyes. "You mean, like a ransom?"

Jeb's eyes widened. "Oh, no. Nothing like that. No. Just a few…" he trailed off, unable to find words. It is a little complicated to tell a couple of parents that their long lost daughter as been a living science experiment with _wings_ for the past twelve years of her life.

"You see," I said. "Nudge… that's what we call your daughter, but, well, she's a little… unordinary."

"Well I can see why," Sophie replied. "She was _kidnapped._"

"Yes, but that's the only thing," Jeb said, cautiously. "See, she's a little… different… from, let's say, you or your other children."

"How so?" Henry and Sophie were getting a little worried, I could tell.

"It's just that… Nudge is, well… special." I spoke slowly, as if trying not to frighten them.

"Is there something wrong with her?" Sophie asked. "Because if there is, we would want to know. We would still want her, of course we would want Monique, but we need to know if there's something wrong or abnormal."

Well, that could possibly cover the whole wing thing.

"Wrong, no. Abnormal…" Jeb started but was cut of by Sophie's gasp.

"She's just like a normal girl," I said. "She loves junk food and likes to play sports and watch TV and go shopping. But she has some… physical scarring…."

Fang raised an eyebrow at me and I glared at him. Sophie and Henry had horrified expressions on their face and I make a pact to just spit it out. Now.

"Do you remember, about six or seven months ago, there were these… rumors… that were constantly in the news? About … supernatural people… or kids?" I said quickly.

Henry pulled his eyebrows together. "Yes. There were these kids with wings who kept popping up everywhere." Looking at Sophie, he added, "But what does that have to do with our daughter?"

I took an extremely deep breath. "Well, she's… uh… kinda one of them."

Dead silence. Both of them were staring at me as if I had grown another eyeball.

"Are you saying," his gaze hooked on me, "that my daughter, my Monique, has wings?"

I nodded and that's when Sophie started to really cry.

And it was that exact moment that the door swung open.

"We're home!" a male voice called.

"God, I hate old people," a girl said.

"Brooke, don't say that," another girl said.

Then, I'm assuming, their kids walked in the room. An extremely tall teenaged boy, along with another tall teenaged girl and a short teenaged girl, all stared at the five of us. Behind them stood two twin boys, neither of them paying attention.

The short girl stepped forward, towards her parents. "Mom?" she asked carefully and went to sit next to her on the couch.

The taller girl glared at us. "Who are you?"

Henry stood up. "This is Jeb, Fang, and Max," he said pointing to us. "And these are our kids, Olivia," the short one, "Brooke," the tall one, "Ben" the teenager, "and Eddy and Jeff," the two twin boys.

He turned to them and spoke sternly. "And be nice to them because they're reuniting us with Monique."

And that was pretty much Day Three of this horrifying experience.

* * *

**Just a quick note, because this was kinda bugging me when I reread it. I made the first half of the chapter really unrealistic on purpose. And Max is also really, really, **_**really,**_** dense about it, for a reason, also. You will soon see why. And the next update will either come tomorrow or Wednesday because I told myself I would not read my new ****Kieli**** book until I finish this story. Review please!**


	12. Pasts

**Wow. I think this is the first time I ever actually made a deadline I set for myself. Well, it is 10:30 on Wednesday night, but you get the picture.**

**Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction. The major characters from previous MR books belong to JP. All other junk are drawn from the author's imagination and resemblances to people, places, and other garbage and insanely coincidental and are not intended by the author.**

* * *

"I know you want to curse  
This place but there's only  
One thing that's stopping us now."

--Bon Jovi

**

* * *

Chapter 12: Fang P.O.V.**

"Well, holy bananas. I would _major_ bucks to live here," Max breathed out as they stopped at the end of the driveway. Only it was more like a freaking highway.

"I bet they do, too," Fang said, and Max smiled at him.

It had taken about two entire minutes to actually get from the edge of the property to the actual house of the Gasman and Angel's father. They had imagined him living in a mansion during one of their many fantasies, and Fang was didn't except to see a grand house. But, man, they were closer than they thought.

"I bet this place is bigger than Anne's," Max said. "I mean, really. This house has to have, what, twelve bedrooms? At _least._"

A man walked out the front door and stepped down from the porch. He looked young, probably in his early thirties, and he walked up to the car. Jeb opened his door and Max and Fang quickly followed suit.

"Hello," said Jeb, walking up to the man. "You must be Dan." They shook hands and Fang noticed that he looked extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm Max. And this is Fang," Max said stepping forward, her ever-present I-know-what-you-did look, which was normally saved for Gazzy and Iggy, on her face. Fang realized right then that Max did not know why Angel's and Gazzy's parents had sold them.

But they were going to find out.

A smiling woman waited on the porch. "I'm Wendy," she said, cheerfully. "Would you like something to eat?"

"No, thank you," Jeb said. "We're just here to talk."

Max and Fang exchanged a look. Jeb didn't act so cold around the other parents. So why start now? Didn't he know them already?

They walked inside and Fang's eyes wandered. This house was _huge._ It wasn't fancy or anything, not too posh, but it wasn't gigantic. The ceiling was tall enough to bungee-jump from and there was a balcony coming off of the second floor. And this was only the entry way.

Walking down the hall, Fang noticed mounds of photos. Everywhere. There wasn't an inch of wall-space that wasn't covered. Most of the pictures were of scenery or monuments. Apparently, these people were travelers.

Max stopped walking abruptly and Fang bumped into her. Placing his hand on her back, he followed her line of sight and found what had made all the color from her face drain.

There was a room to their right. It was incredibly small and reminded Fang of a mud room because of the jackets lined up in the corner. But that wasn't what had made Max freeze.

In the room, were four cages.

Exactly like the ones in the School.

Fang stared, but noticed that Dan and Wendy had kept walking, into what seemed like a living room, and Jeb had followed. When he turned around to look for them, confusion light his face.

"What's going on?" Jeb asked.

"Oh, don't worry about those," Wendy said. "We just put the dogs in there at night."

Max's eyes flared. "You mean you actually use these things?"

"Well, yeah," Wendy said, surprised. "To be honest, they kinda like them. It's like their bed. They're comfortable in the crates."

"Max," Fang said, pushing her gently forward, before she threw a fit. "I'm sure it's fine."

They continued into the room and sat down awkwardly on the couch. Fang was watching Max intently as Dan began to speak.

"Do you really have my kids?"

"We do," Jeb answered. "But we need to clear a few things."

Wendy took Dan's hand before he answered. "Of course. It's probably very confusing to you. But I have a question."

They waited, Wendy nodded, and then Dan whispered, "What exactly did they do to them?"

The man seemed terrified and heartbroken. Fang got the feeling that there was a lot more to his story than just him selling his own children. Max had lost her hard glare, but stared straight at him, without emotion.

"Well," Jeb started, but he was cut off.

"Do I really want to know?"

"Probably not," answered Jeb, truthfully. "But as you know, they both have… wings."

Dan exhaled. "Right."

He looked down. "I didn't mean for this to happen," he whispered, almost to himself. Fang looked at Max in question, but she just shrugged.

Dan looked up. "Where is Samantha?"

"In jail," Jeb said, in a cold voice.

"Who's Samantha?" Max broke in.

Fang paused. How come Max didn't know who she was? Wasn't she with Jeb when she made the phone calls? Or was she just as lost as he was?

"Samantha," Dan said, looking straight at Max, "is my ex-wife." Pausing for a moment, he then added. "She was the one who sold my children to the… School."

Max's mouth opened as she stared at him. Why didn't Max know that? Fang wondered. Jeb did, so how come Max was out of the loop.

"I… didn't know that," Max said quietly. "So you…" she trailed off.

"_I_," Dan said, "didn't have any part in that. Samantha told me she was pregnant with our first child about a month after we got married. It was a boy; we were going to name him Brian," he remembered, sadly. "But he died at birth. Or so I was told.

"About a year later, she got pregnant again. A girl this time. Catherine. But, once again, she died right after she was born."

"How could you not know what was going on?" Max asked.

Dan shrugged. "She was very secretive. She told me she went away on long, weekly business trips, when really she was seeing an embryonic specialist.

"But then, about two years after Catherine's "death," I accidentally, picked up her cell phone when it rang. A guy was on the phone saying how she had another chance to make fifty thousand dollars. I said I was her husband and I was interested, and he went on to tell me that if we had another baby again, we would just sell him or her to the science lab, like we did before.

"I talked to Samantha, who vehemently refused to know anything about this. A week later, I called the police and filed for a divorce."

Fang blinked. Was this guy serious? Was Max actually believing this story?

"You have to believe me," Dan said. "I would _never_ sell my own children for money. No matter what is wrong with them. That is just so…" He stopped talking and hung his head. Wendy squeezed his hand, and Fang realized he was crying.

Fang looked at Max. She was staring intently at Jeb, her eyes narrowed. And that's when Fang went on red alert.

Something was up. And Max wasn't telling him what it was.

Max turned to look at him. "What to you think?" she asked, almost silently.

"I believe him," Fang said. And he did. He could _feel _it. This guy was no softie, but Fang could tell Dan was a decent guy with no interest in selling his own kids.

Max nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Who are you?" she asked Wendy, when Dan looked back up again, dry-eyed.

"His fiancé," she said. Max smiled weakly.

"How come you don't know this?" Fang hissed under his breath. Wasn't Max there when Jeb called them? Would she really come into a stranger's house without knowing the simplest things? Fang didn't think so.

"What?" she asked, but Fang shook his head. They would talk later.

"So," Dan said. "Am I really going to see them? Are they really coming home?" His voice was so full of adoration that it hurt Fang's head.

Jeb nodded. "But first, a couple things you need to know."

"Anything."

"The wings. Those must be kept a secret. No one outside of immediate family should know about them. This includes where they were kept, and what was done to them. If they want, Angel and Gazzy, your kids, can tell you two, but you must _keep quiet_ about the whole topic. Government orders." Jeb started.

There goes that whole government thing again.

"And second," Max added. "You may want to get rid of those dog crates."

**

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Sorry for the shortness. But now that all the meetings of parents are over, the real good stuff is coming. I was kinda tired and kinda impatient to finish this chapter, so if it's lame, I know. And everything will clear up in the near future. EVERYTHING. Another update by possibly Thursday or Friday. Reviews please.**


	13. Return

**Disclaimer:: I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE AND ITS CHARACTERS.**

**(Don't you just love CAPS LOCK?!)

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**

"So tell me when you're gonna let me in,  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin."

--Keane

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Chapter 13: Max P.O.V.

Man, did it feel good to be home.

I climbed out of the car and stretched my arms after the hour long car ride coming home from the airport. Grabbing my bag, I slung it over my shoulder and headed for the front door, more than ready to jump into the shower.

"Max!!" Nudge squealed, as she bound down the front steps and dove into me. "Oh, my God, you have to tell me _everything!_"

"Hey, Nudge. It's nice to see you too," I said and kissed the top of her forehead. She beamed.

She released me and went to hug Fang as I waited from the next ambush. But no one seemed to be home.

"Hey," I said. "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, Gaz and Angel went out to the grocery store with Dr. M. And Ella and Iggy went to go see a movie with some of Ella's friends from school. Total said he was going out to catch butterflies, but I think he might have been kidding…" she said, looking around for him.

"Oh," I replied. Walking into the house, I said, "They left you here by yourself?"

"Max," Nudge scoffed. "I'm twelve years old. I think I can handle being alone in a house all by myself. You should be able to trust me more than you trust Iggy. At least _I _don't blow anything up. Oh, man, you should've seen what happened. He got into so much trouble…" she drifted off after she noticed my wide eyed, nervous expression.

"_What? _I swear, if he did anything--"

"Well, anyway," Nudge said, and grabbed my wrist. "You have _got _to tell me _everything_ that happened. Don't leave out a single thing!"

She dragged me into the room we were sharing with Angel, and closed the door behind us. I dropped my bag on the floor, promising to unpack it later. Whenever I found the time.

"OK." She breathed out. "So, what are my parents like?"

"Well," I started. "For starters, the wing thing went over smoothly. Kinda."

"It _did?!"_ she screeched.

"Yup. Your mom cried a little, but then they both promised that they would do whatever it took to keep you safe."

"Really?"

I sat down next to her on the bed. "Really. They're both incredibly nice people. You look a lot like your dad. Which is good. I like them," I said.

"You do? As in, really like them? Or you can just tolerate them?"

"Well, considering the fact that most adults I've ever met have been trying to kill me, I'd say your parents are pretty decent people. But yes, Nudge. I really do like them."

"OK," she said, smiling. "What about my brothers and sisters?"

"Well, your two youngest brothers, the twins, disappeared outside after they came home, so I didn't really get to meet them," I said truthfully. "But they seemed nice. They're around Gazzy's age."

"That should be fun," she muttered, but she was still beaming. "What about the oldest one?"

"Ben? He was pretty friendly. I liked him too," I replied.

"A lot?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Enough."

"What about my sisters?" Nudge asked.

"They both are… very different. But in a good way. I think you'll get along with them."

She smiled. "So, you approve?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. I'm really glad. You know, it would've been awful if you didn't like them, because then you wouldn't allow me to go meet them. Oh, my God. I'm really going to meet them, aren't I? Well, what if they don't like me?" She looked up at me nervously.

I placed my hand on top of hers. "Nudge, they'll love you. Anyone who doesn't is completely insane."

"Aw, thanks Max," she said, and then she hugged me, because it would've been totally un-Nudge-like if she didn't.

"So," she said. "How was the rest of the trip? I mean, with Fang and Jeb and all. Was it awkward?"

"Yeah," I said. "Completely awkward."

She gave a sly, mischievous smile. "Why? What happened? Did Fang do something?"

I narrowed my eyes. What was she talking about? "Is there something going on?" I asked.

"Noooo," she sang. "Max? Are we going to go move in with our real parents?" she asked, her voice lower.

"If you want to," I lied.

She nodded. "I think should meet them first."

"That seems like a good idea," I said. I absolutely hated lying to her, but it was the right thing to do. I couldn't tell her the truth; couldn't tell anyone the truth. Not even Fang. Especially not Fang.

"What if I don't want to go?" she asked, but I was saved from answering.

Angel burst in through the door and threw herself into my lap, the Gasman hot on her tail.

"Max!" she said. "I missed you so much!"

I hugged her with one arm and pulled Gazzy closer with my other. "I missed you guys, too."

"Did you meet my dad?" Gazzy asked, looking up at me.

"Yup. He was incredibly nice," I said. "And his house is humongous."

"What did he say about the wings?" Angel asked.

"Guess what? He doesn't care about them one bit. He said that all he wanted was his kids back home," I said, and then look on their faces pretty much broke my heart.

"Really?" Gazzy asked.

"Uh-huh," I said, ruffling his hair.

"What about our mom?" Angel asked.

"I think that's a story for another time, alright?" I was going to tell them about it, but I didn't really feel like breaking the hearts right now. It wouldn't hurt to wait, at least.

"OK," said Angel, and then she perked up. "Oh! Me and Nudge and Ella made you and Fang a cake! Ella taught us and it's made out of ice cream. But Dr. Martinez said we couldn't eat it until you caught home. 'Cause it's a welcome home cake," she said.

"Ooh, sounds yummy. Shall we go eat it?" I said, standing up.

Angel grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen. Iggy, Fang, and Ella were sitting at the kitchen table already.

"Hey," I said. "I didn't know you guys were home already."

I walked around the table to face Iggy and was about to lean down to hug him when I gasped.

"Iggy! What the hell happened to your face!" I exclaimed. He smiled.

Looking at him, it looked like he had dunked his face into a pot of boiling hot grease. He had bright red burns and blisters surrounding his face, and one eye was swelled half-way shut. There was no pattern, just a bunch of random, dark splotches coating his face.

"Well, you see Max," he said. "Nudge and I were helping Dr. M. make fried chicken for dinner. And I said something to Nudge that really pissed her off, and she threw the entire pot of hot oil right on my face."

"I did not!" Nudge screeched. "Max! He got too close to a bomb he was building and it accidentally exploded. That's what really happened."

"I hate to break it to you, Ig, but Nudge's story sounds more realistic," I said. "Are you alright?"

"Well, I just figured it was worth a shot. You know, if she wasn't already in trouble with you, then maybe—ow! Sheesh, Nudge, I was only joking!" Iggy rubbed his arm in the spot where Nudge punched him. "Anyway, I'm fine."

"Wait, Nudge, why would you be in trouble?" I asked.

She looked from Fang to me, and then at Angel. She glanced at Ella, who was smiling like a lunatic. "I'll tell you later," she said, uncharacteristically to the point.

"Nudge?" I asked.

"Max!" Mom said as she came into the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around me and I hugged her back. "How was your trip?"

"Completely awful," I whispered into her shoulder.

She pulled back and smiled. Then gave me a look that said, we'll talk later.

She walked over to hug Fang, and then said, "Ange? Do you want to help me cut the ice cream cake?"

"Ig," I said, leaning down and speaking in his ear. "I want to talk to you after this."

"Nah, let's talk now," he said. "We'll be right back," he announced, standing up.

I felt Fang's eyes on me as we walked away. I had to be extremely careful around him. Knowing my luck, he'll figure out exactly everything before I even get the chance to tell him.

Iggy closed the door to his room and sat down on the bed. "Shoot."

Stalling for time, I said, "I can't believe you went out in public with your face looking like someone threw a sparkler at you."

He shrugged. "It gave the ladies something to look at."

"Uh, yeah. Totally," I said sarcastically. "So," I continued. "Was that like, a date? With Ella?"

"No," he said, completely unmoved. "She just invited me to go to the movies with some of her friends."

"Uh-huh," I said. Changing my tone, I said, "Seriously, Iggy. I really need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Well, it's not really good, and you probably won't like it," I said. "But I want to tell you before I tell anyone else. Just to give you a heads up."

He looked wary. "What's going on?"

I breathed deeply. "Iggy," I said, and then paused before continuing. "I know you're going to hate me. And I know you'll cool me out for, like, eternity. But I'm telling you now; _I can't do anything about it."_

"Max," he said. "What the hell is going on?"

Another deep breathe in. But he answered before I could.

"Is this about Fang? Or something, because truthfully--"

"No, Ig. This isn't about Fang. Just hear me out, OK?"

He was quiet. I inhaled again.

"Iggy," I whispered. "Please don't hate me."

"Max," he said. "Just spit it out already!"

"You have to go live with your parents," I said, quickly, like pulling off a Band-Aid. "You can't stay here anymore. No one can."

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**Well, I know technically, it's about ten minutes into Saturday, so I officially failed the deadline I've given myself, but I hope the next chapter will make up for it. This will be updated either sometime on Saturday (today) or Sunday hopefully.**


	14. Secrets

**ACK! I'm SOOO SORRY. I've had summer homework to do, (I can tell I'm already going to hate my APUSH class) and for some reason, I had this entire chapter planned out in my head, but it was really hard to write. BUT to make up for my one, month hiatus, this is the longest chapter I've written!**

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"Today is gone,

Yet I'm the only light that you see.  
You need someone  
I know all you needed was me."

--All American Rejects

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**Chapter 14: Fang P.O.V.**

Getting out of the car, I slammed the door behind and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I glanced over the top of the car at Max, who was leaning against the car door, laughing, and looking down at the Gasman.

"Hey," she said, noticing me staring.

"How was the ride?" She nodded her chin at Jeb, who had his back turned away from her.

Since there were too many people to fit in one car, we opted to take two; have Dr. Martinez drive one and Jeb another. I thought they had split up the flock a little unevenly, but Max had put herself in with her mom, Angel, Nudge and Gazzy, and left me, Iggy and Ella to go with Jeb. And I thought it was probably better not to be stuck in a small vehicle with _the Gasman_ for more than three hours anyway.

I shrugged and looked up at the hotel in front of them. If I was all sentimental, which I not, I would've been all sad and depressed that this was the last stop before Max ships us, her family off to live with people they have never even met before. But since I was saving all of his mushy emotions for when Max finally came to her senses and talked to me, I thought it would be better to keep quiet, at least in front of Max. I knew what she was doing was wrong, and I was going to let her know. Eventually.

"Have you told him yet?" Iggy asked Max, who threw her head up to look at me.

"No," she said quickly. Iggy shook his head.

"You guys ready to check in?" Dr. Martinez asked, heading for the door, as Max walked up to me, Angel in hand.

"Hey," she said. "I wanna talk."

Angel looked up her, and Max glanced down. "Go in with Mom. We'll meet you in the room, okay?"

Angel looked at me and then back at Max. "Oh. Okay," she said, heading over to Nudge and taking Total from her arms.

We hung back in the parking lot, not talking, until they left the desk and headed into the lobby.

"So," I said. "Where to?"

"Let's just go inside," she said, and started in, not checking to see if I was following. We walked in through the doors, which lead to a huge common room, with a TV, two couches, and about two dozen neatly set tables.

She stopped and looked around for a minute. Watching as the flock got on the elevator and Gazzy pressed his face against the glass door looking above the lobby, Max smiled.

"You know," she said. "It's so easy to forget he's only nine." She gripped the handle of her bag a little tighter, and she turned away from me. "Let's sit."

Max made her way to one of the couches and dropped her bag to the ground, with an obnoxious_ thud._ She sat down, and exhaled loudly.

"What, are you carrying around the world's largest boulder in there?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"Only the world's second largest boulder," Max answered, without a smile.

I waited for her to start talking. It was weird to think, that tomorrow, this would be the same person who was allowing her family to be torn apart.

Because, I know Max wouldn't do that. And I knew there was something else that she wasn't telling me.

"Okay," she said. "I guess I have a lot to say."

"I guess you do."

"I just," she started, "I… don't want you to be upset. But, there's really no way avoiding that," she said, laughing nervously.

I stared at her, not saying anything.

"I mean, Iggy was _pissed_, and that was Iggy. You're like…" She shook her head, "Just, don't be mad at me. Please. I really… I… don't want to fight. Not now," she said, her voice small.

I rubbed my hands on my jeans. "I won't get angry."

She laughed once. "Uh… I don't really know how to say this."

I sat there, watching her. Max looked me in the eyes, her own bloodshot and anxious, her face exuding worry. She squeezed her bare knees and leaned down to scratch her ankle. I could tell she was stalling.

"You know, when Jeb and I were calling everyone's parents?" she said, looking down. "I, uh, I never talked to them. Jeb did, and I was right there listening, but I didn't know the whole story, about anyone. That's why I insisted on going. We weren't going to meet them at first."

I stared at her. I guess it made sense. Why Max didn't know Dan's story and why Henry had confused me with Max.

"You let Jeb do all the talking?" I asked. When had she begun to trust him?

Max fidgeted uncomfortably. "I wasn't allowed to talk."

"What?" I asked. "Jeb wouldn't let you?"

"Not exactly." She sighed. "The government is ordering us to be separated. I told you that. But they're… checking up on us. Like," she sighed again, and reached into her back pocket. She pulled out a business card and handed it to me.

Looking down, I read the name. Megan Kochinski.

"Who is this?" Or did Max start suddenly carrying around random business cards in her pockets?

"She's a FBI agent in charge of making sure we're "safe." Or, at least that what she says."

"You talked to her?"

Max shrugged. "I called her on my own. For someone who has the intention of splitting six mutant children apart from their home, she's actually pretty down-to-earth and all. She's alright."

I stared at her. Not only was she completely passive about this whole thing, but also Max was actually trusting a government official. I couldn't believe it.

"And you can just trust her after one conversation?" I asked, incredulous.

Max shrugged again, still looking down. She hadn't even glanced at me through this entire conversation. "Well, Jeb does--"

"And you trust Jeb? Since when?" This is getting all Twilight zone. Max would never trust Jeb.

She didn't say anything. She fingered the hem of her shorts and bit her bottom lip.

"Max?" I asked softly.

"I just don't know what to do," she said. She took a deep breath. "Technically, it's against the law for someone under 18 to live with an adult without their parent's permission. They can be considered a runaway or it could be considered a kidnapping. Depending on how you look at it. It's illegal for the flock to stay with Mom.

"The only choice there is was to find their parents. Especially since the school that they supposedly built for us was made into a boarding school. There's no other way around it. So, that's why Jeb took so long finding all the old files. The School hadn't gotten rid them; they had everything backed up.

"Which is also one of the reasons why Jeb never went to jail. He had too much valuable information and was never directly involved with the experiments."

For a moment I didn't know what to say. "How do you know all of this?"

"Jeb told me some, and Megan told me some." Max turned away from me, and watched as an old man and his baby granddaughter, stumble over to the small snack bar. "I guess… there is one way around it."

She looked at me for the first time. "But you have to promise to be open-minded. I didn't tell Iggy, because I didn't know how he would react."

I nodded and let her continue.

"Tomorrow night, after everyone meets their parents, whoever doesn't want to stay, can leave and go with you. You can find a safe place to stay the night and then leave the next morning. I'll stay to calm everyone down."

"When would you meet up with us?" I asked, considering her plan.

She looked down again. "I wouldn't."

I blinked, and everything began to make sense. She wasn't putting up a fight because she didn't want to. She didn't want to run anymore, even if that meant being with us. She just didn't care.

Max looked up at me, and then she looked alarmed. "Fang! I want to go with you. I would never just ditch you," she said urgently. "But I can't."

"And why not?" I said angrily.

She paused her rubbed the back of her neck. "Um… I have another chip. A different one."

I paused. How could she have another one?

"We all have one, except yours are all deactivated. Mine's the only one that works. That's how I hear the Voice. So if they deactivated it, I wouldn't be able to talk to it. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, but Jeb is 100 percent against that."

"Where is it?" I said, after a moment.

"In the back of our necks. It was supposed to program the expiration dates also, but once you deactivate them, they go away. Which is a plus," she said.

"Why won't you be able to come with us?" I asked.

"It tracks me. And in order to not be thrown in jail, Jeb had to hand over all information. Which includes how to find out where I am. Therefore, if I left with you, Megan has the resources she needs to find you."

"I thought you said she was nice," I said.

"Well, she is. But that's her job. Believe me Fang, I want to stay altogether, but there's nothing I can do."

"No," I said, "No way."

"What?"

"I'm not leaving without you."

She looked at me, not saying anything. A moment later, she said, "You would rather be split up completely, then just lose me?"

"Yup."

She shook her head. "That's ridiculous."

"I promised I would never leave you," I said.

"But you're going to anyway!" Max said, and then she sighed. "I'm sorry, I just…" She bit her lip and looked down.

We sat there for a minute, neither of us saying anything. Then I stood up.

"Come on. Let's go upstairs." I waited for her to rise, and watched as gripped her bag.

We headed towards the stairs, when she stopped. "Do you know what room we're in?"

"I heard the guy at the desk say 826."

"The eighth floor? Let's take the elevator," she said, and she turned around and pressed the button. We waited as people filed out and we walked in, and Max pressed the button and smushed herself against the wall.

"Are you sure you don't want to leave?" she asked me.

I nodded. "Positive."

She sighed. "That was my only idea…"

The doors dinged and we walked quietly to the room. Max knocked and Nudge answered in that way-too-hyper manner of hers.

"Max! We're going downstairs to the pool. Wanna come?" she asked, as we walked in.

"Sure. Give me a minute to change."

Nudge turned to me. "Are you gonna come, Fang?"

"Yeah, okay." I went through the door to the conjoined room where Iggy and Ella were sitting on two chairs, talking quietly. I nodded at them and Ella smiled back.

I flung my duffel bag onto a bed and walked into the bathroom to get changed. When I came out, Ella was gone.

"Hey," Iggy said. "What did Max say?"

"Everything you already know," I said. I didn't want to tell him about Max's idea. It wasn't going to happen anyway. I wasn't going to leave without her.

"Oh," he said, as Max walked in.

"You going swimming, Ig?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm going to watch a movie with Ella," he said, standing up from his chair.

"Ah," Max said, wiggling her eyebrows. "A movie date. Why didn't you say so?"

Iggy rolled his eyes. "It's just a movie."

Nudge came in, followed by Gazzy and Angel. "What movie?"

"No clue."

"You guys ready?" Max asked.

"Oh, Nudge. Isn't there something you need to tell Max?" Iggy asked, and Nudge shot him a wasteful glare.

"_No,"_ Nudge exaggerated, and Iggy raised his eyebrows.

"What is it?" Max asked, moving closer to her. Nudge turned away.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "I'll tell you later."

"How about _now?_" Iggy said.

"Iggy," Nudge warned.

"Let's go down to the pool!" Gazzy jumped in, and Nudge shot him a grateful glance. "But don't think you'll get out of this one," he said to Nudge. "I just want to get her face on tape." He laughed and high-fived Iggy.

Max put her hands on her hips. "Nudge…" she started, but she and Angel were already out the door.

We walked out, and Gazzy ran to catch up with them, who were already down the stairs. Max turned to look at me.

"Do you know?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"Well, she's not the only one who's hiding stuff from me," she said, her voice harsh.

I straightened, but kept walking. I couldn't tell her now. She would _kill _me. And then she would torment me and try to make me escape with the flock later tomorrow night. And I couldn't let that happen. Not without bringing her with us.

"You had some secrets locked away," I pointed out, pushing open the door to the stairwell, and Max stopped walking.

"That was for protection," she said. "I couldn't tell you. How did I know if you were going to tell anyone else?"

I have to admit, that stung a little. If Max didn't want me to mention it, I wouldn't bring it up. She should know that by now.

"Come on," I said, "I wouldn't tell anyone if you didn't want me to."

"I know, I just…" she said, "I didn't want you to get upset." She leaned against the wall, and crossed her arms.

"Because keeping it from me was so much better," I said, just now, beginning to get angry.

She slammed the back of her head against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut. I could see her shoulders rising and falling and I moved closer to her.

"I don't know what to do," said Max, her voice shaking, "On one side, I have my family being torn apart, with me not being able to do crap about it. I mean, come on. If this were last year, we would've booked out of here about three weeks ago. What is up with that?"

"You have a weakness," I said, "It's trying to please everyone."

She laughed without any humor, her eyes still closed. "Yeah. Except back then, it wouldn't have matter if they were mad at me; I still would've ran. It was about protection."

"They're older now," I said.

"By like, what, a few months?"

"Physically. But we've been through a lot. You said it yourself. They're not normal kids. It's not easy to forget that."

She didn't say anything, so I kept talking, taking another step towards her. "Look, I know this isn't normal for you; just letting things happen without you're control. But maybe it's better. For you, and for us."

Max kept quiet. I placed my hand on her shoulder. She didn't seem to notice.

"Max," I said, and then paused, "You don't want them to leave."

"No," she said, her voice quavering. Her eyes were wet and her face was flushed, "I don't."

"And I know they don't want to leave either. I don't want to," I said softly, "But we are going to."

She took in a shaky breath and didn't say anything.

"You can't do anything about it," I said.

"I know," she whispered.

"Stop trying to make it work. Just because they're leaving doesn't mean you'll never see them again."

"I know," she whispered again.

"There's email, and phones, and we can still _fly._ And there's plenty of weekends," I said.

"I know."

"It'll be okay," I said.

"You don't know that," she said, frustrated.

"I know everything." Max tried to smile. I brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It'll be okay," I repeated.

"I'm losing them," she said.

"No," I said, and squeezed her shoulder. "We're just moving away. Friends move away. It's not the end of the world."

"It is for me," she said and my breath caught for a moment.

"Max," I started, but she stopped me.

"I can't believe you're giving up," she said angrily, her eyes still closed, but tears spilling over the edge.

"You did first," I said, but then backtracked, "I mean, I'm not giving up. I'm just… accepting it."

"Why?" she asked, outraged.

"Because there's nothing we can do," I said quietly, "You said it yourself."

Her shoulders fell, and she exhaled sharply.

"I know," she said, "It just sounds worse coming from you."

I laughed quickly, and leaned forward a little.

"You know I'm right," I said.

"I guess."

In an instant, I made one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions that I usually regret later. I leaned down a kissed her cheek, but only for a second. When I pulled back, I rubbed her arm, as she opened her eyes and stared at me.

"It'll be ok," I said, for what seemed like the millionth time in the last five minutes.

"I know," she breathed out.

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**Next chapter is going to be pretty short, so I'm hoping to update by tonight, or early tomorrow. NO JOKE. And whoa, I just kind of realized IT'S SEPTEMBER. Not cool. School starts on Thursday…. And whoa, I published this story exactly one year ago, and I'm only on chapter 14.**

**I suck. BUT I WILL UPDATE SOONER I SWEAR!**


	15. Dreams

**Ah! I'm sorry, I promised this on, like Tuesday, and a week later, it's here. But I started school. And I'm gonna die already in APUSH. Stupid Irene for not letting me be a weed and quit….

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**

"I have walked all alone  
On these streets, I call home  
Streets of hope, streets of fear  
Through the sidewalk cracks  
Time disappears."

--Bon Jovi

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**Chapter 15: Max P.O.V.**

Recap of last night. High School Musical marathon. Much gagging from Iggy, Gazzy, Fang and I. Which, of course, caused Nudge and Ella to flip out and start smacking us. That is the reason why I have a handprint on my thigh. Nudge has been taking steroids for her hands or something, because she slaps like she throwing an airplane at you.

So, in the middle of the second movie, Nudge and Ella got into a fight over who is the better dancer, Zac Efron or Corbin Bleu. Neither of them appreciated my theory. That they were both computer generated robots, because no boy with any self-respect should be able to move their hips _that_ much.

And after the excruciating pain of watching ideal Disney high school life, it was about eleven-thirty at night, and we curled up into beds, and that's when Akila decided that she was my best friend and jumped on top of the bed Ella and I were sharing and fell asleep _right on top of me._

So, this morning, when Nudge whined that she was hungry at six-thirty in the morning, I offered to take her downstairs to the free breakfast buffet while everyone else was still sleeping. I was more than happy to get out of that room, which seemed to have shrunk about three feet since we got to the hotel.

Now, we were at the back of the line with our arms crossed, Nudge being uncharacteristically quiet, while we impatiently waited for the businessmen to gather their breakfast and just take their freaking seats.

I could already tell this was not going to be the best day of my life. And it was only six forty-seven in the morning.

"Hey Max?" Nudge asked, not looking at me, "What time are my parents coming?"

I sighed. I think I must've told her this about twenty-five times since last night.

"Well, their plane landed around eleven o'clock, and they probably arrived at the hotel around midnight, but we're going to meet everyone at eleven down here in the lobby."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because everyone will be here by then," I said, grabbing two plates and handing her one.

"Thanks. Can I see them before then?" she asked.

"Uh… I don't know what room they're staying in," I said, deciding between a blueberry muffin and an apple cinnamon one. Giving up, I just put both on my plate.

"This is so weird," Nudge said, moving behind me. "I mean, my _parents_ are in the same building as me. Isn't it weird?"

"Uh-huh," I said, piling up on scrambled eggs.

"Like, I've always dreamed about meeting them. And now I finally am! It's about the coolest thing ever!"

We sat down at a small table near the back, minding our own business and eating our food, while Nudge shockingly stopped talking. Glancing at me from behind her hair, she kept adverting her eyes whenever she looked into mine. Which was like, every time she looked up.

I put down my fork, "Nudge?"

"Okay, whatever you do, do not make a big deal out of this," she said quickly, as if she was waiting for me to start talking.

"Make a big deal out of what?" I asked.

"Well," she started, and then bit into her bagel. She chewed slowly, still looking at me, obviously stalling.

"Can I ask a question?" she said, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah," I said, unsure. "What?"

Nudge blurted out, "Do you like Fang?"

I paused for a moment, not knowing how to react. Then brushing it off, I responded, "Well, I don't hate him."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "No, I mean, do you love him?"

I shrugged. "Of course I do," I said, completely ignoring the real question. "He's like my brother."

"Like your _brother_?" she asked, making a face. "Are you sure? Because you guys would make such an adorable couple!"

"Oh please," I said, starting to eat again. "Me and Fang? We would go on one date, and then break up because I said that the sky is blue and he would disagree with me."

She narrowed her eyes, "But would you go out with him? If he asked?"

I took a sip of my juice before answering, "Well, he wouldn't."

She let out a dramatic sigh and leaned forward in her chair, "You are _completely_ avoiding the question! All I want to know is if you like him. As a potential boyfriend."

I looked up at her. Her eyes were all sparkly and she was smiling like she knew some big secret. "How old are you?" I asked sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes, "Don't try to change the subject. But I'm thirteen. Almost. And you're sixteen. And Fang is _almost_ sixteen. It's about time that you've had some romance in your life."

I gave a short laugh, "In your dreams."

"More like in yours."

My head shot up and I looked up at her, "What?"

"Nothing, let's go. I'm done. And I want to get ready. Can you believe I'm going to meet my _parents _in, like," she grabbed my arm, and she was getting up and looked at my watch, "_four hours?!_"

"Yeah," I said, following her as she headed towards the elevator. "Hey, what were you going to tell me before? That you didn't want me to make a big deal over?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she said, pushing the elevator button. She turned and smiled, "Just that you like Fang."

"You're full of it," I said, "Now, seriously, tell me."

We walked into the empty elevator, and she leaned against the back glass. "Okay," she sighed, "While you were away… I got a new power."

"What?" I said, "Nudge! That's so cool! What is it?"

She bit her lip, "Um, its actually not that useful. But it is kinda cool."

I waited for her to continue. But the elevator doors opened and she speed walked down the hall about a mile ahead of me. This was so unfair. She bombarded me with embarrassing questions about _Fang_ and then totally avoids telling me about her power.

Nudge held the door open for me when we got into our room. "Did you guys eat breakfast already?" she asked, seeing dirty plates stacked high on the coffee table.

"Yeah," Iggy said, from his adjoined room.

"We ordered room service," Gazzy said smugly.

Nudge clicked her tongue. "Whatever," she said, "it's from the same kitchen."

Walking into the bedroom, I avoided Fang's gaze and Nudge completely noticed. She wiggled her eyebrows, following me into the room.

"Back already?" Mom asked, running a comb through Angel's hair.

"Yeah," I said. "Nudge was rushing."

She glared at me, but then perked up, jumping onto the bed. "Well, I found out that Max has a crush," she crooned. I kicked her ankle.

"The door's open," I hissed, and her eyes widened mockingly.

"Why do you care?" she said with a sly smile.

"You told her?" Angel asked, trying to turn her head.

"No," I said, "she hasn't."

"It's really not that big of a deal," Nudge said. "Only that I can see people's dreams while I'm sleeping."

I paused. Somehow, I was expecting something a little cooler, something worth keeping a secret. Like being able to shoot lightening from her eyes. Or being able to turn invisible and stalk people without them knowing.

"And you felt like you needed to keep this from me?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"Well," she said, sitting up and closing the door with her foot. Mom looked at me and I shrugged. "I kinda saw one of yours. I wanted to see how far away it could work. You know, like if they had to be in the same house in order for me to watch their dreams. So I tried it on you, while you were away."

"Oh," I said, surprised.

She looked uncomfortable "It was the one…where you were kissing Fang."

_Oh. _Oh boy. Not good. Not good at all.

"What?" Mom asked, looking at me.

Feeling my cheeks flushed madly, I opened my mouth to say something, but then closed it on second thought.

"And, I wanted to tell you that I got a new power, but I didn't know if you were going to be mad or anything, so I waited to say something," she said, still not looking at me.

"Well," Angel said, "I wouldn't have told her _that._"

Nudge jerked her head upright, "Thanks for telling me now." Then she turned to me, and I sensed a new reign of terror.

"So, you were lying," she said, smiling, "when you said you didn't have feelings for Fang."

I shook my head, "I never said that."

Nudge's mouth feel wide open and Angel smiled. My eyes widened, realizing what I just said.

"That's not what I meant," I said quickly, "I just don't like him that way."

"Sure, sure," Nudge said, "But you just admitted it," she sang.

"I did not," I said hotly, my cheeks flushing yet again.

"You did _too,"_ Angel said.

"Alright girls," Mom piped in, "Why don't you go get dressed?"

Silently, they left, and then closed the door behind them, and I prayed that they wouldn't say anything to Fang.

Mom sat down next to me. I turned to look at her.

"I don't like him," I said, not really convincingly.

"Okay," she said, not convinced anyway.

I sighed then turned away, to stare at the wall. She put her hand on my leg.

"Just be careful," she said, "He's your best friend."

"I know," I said.

"He wouldn't want to see you hurt," she added.

"I'm not," I said, "I wouldn't want him to be hurt either."

She didn't say anything, but her face looked worried.

"I know," she said, finally, "But that's what worries me."

Then she got up and left the room, pulling the door wide open where I could see Fang lounging on the couch, playing cards with the Gasman. Looking up, he caught my eyes, and gave me the universal, it'll-be-okay face he'd been giving me every five minutes for the past week.

Then he smiled. And suddenly, I remember the real reason I was such a mess in the first place.

Today, the only family I've known for my entire life, were meeting their _real_ families.

How silly of me to forget.

So, four hours later, we were on our way downstairs, and I was holding Gazzy's hand, as we walked to the elevator, and I looked over the edge of the balcony on our floor and said to him, "Look. There's your dad."

And he smiled, while gripping my hand tighter and leaning over the railing. Looking up, I saw Fang staring at me. Behind him, Nudge was smiling wickedly, but I couldn't tell if it was because Fang was looking at me, or because she was meeting her parents.

Probably the latter. Hopefully.

As the doors opened, we piled in, and made our descent to the beginning of my end.

* * *

**I made a deadline chart. Seriously, **_**dead**_**line. It says "or die" all over it. "Do this, or die" in big capital letters. A little morbid, I know. But my next update will come by the 10****th****, or else, you know, I die. It says so. Reviews are extra special! Like Party Cake ice cream. Mmmm…**


	16. Laughs

**Aha! It's before the 10****th****! And I've updated! A new record! Whoo!

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**

"I sense it now, the water's getting deep  
I try to wash the pain away from me  
Away from me."

--Michelle Branch

* * *

**Chapter 16: ****Max P.O.V.**

Imagine a small, private owned Italian restaurant. Now, picture the inside of it about as large as your living room.

Now add in ten adults, nine teenagers, and five kids, all at one table. Take about cozy.

About an hour and a half after a rather tearful reunion, one that I would like to not dwell on right now, the bulk of us were sitting at this huge, incredibly long table. At one end, sat Mom, then me, Ella and Fang. Across from me was Gazzy, Angel sitting right next to him. Down at the other end was Nudge and Iggy. Scattered in between us was… well, everyone else.

The waiter, who looked completely overwhelmed, being that he was a pimply, greasy-haired, seventeen year old who probably never waited on a table over six before, set down my drink in front of me, then eyeballed me with a sick smile. I stared back.

Already, I could tell this was going to be the highlight of my trip. Oh, joy.

I looked down the table to Nudge, who was talking a mile a minute, no surprise, waving her arms wildly as her mom laughed. Both of them were the first ones to start crying when they met which then set off everyone else.

Except for me. I stayed dry. An accomplishment, if I may say so.

Across from me, Angel and Gazzy were explaining the toy store we went to, back in New York City, which seemed like millenniums ago. They were both smiling, and when Angel saw me watching, she smiled again.

_This is so great, _she said in my mind. _He doesn't even care about my wings! He thinks they're really cool!_

I smiled. I was insanely happy. Really. Because they were.

_He says I'm just special,_ she continued, still looking at me. _Just like you used to, when I was little._

My smile faded a little as she turned away from me. Mom patted my knee.

"You look tired," she whispered.

"Yeah," I said, "That's what I need. A nap."

She narrowed her eyes, "Quit the sarcasm, Max. Be happy."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I am happy."

She gave me a long look. "It's hard," I admitted.

"Hey Max," Ella said. I turned to her and found her staring across the table near Nudge. "Why didn't you mention that Nudge's brother was so adorable?"

"What?" I asked, as Fang took a casual sip of his soda, not looking at me.

"Ben!" she whispered, "He's really cute."

"I never really noticed," I said, "I had bigger things on my mind, I guess."

"Well," she said, still watching him, "Maybe we can work out a long-distance relationship or something."

I stared at her, before adding, "Whatever you say."

Fang looked at me, but not for the first time since we were seated. On his other side was his step-dad, who I had met for all of five minutes the first time I was in his house.

Fang's house.

I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. He just continued staring.

The waiter came back with bread and little bowls of olive oil. He slid his arm in between Ella and me, letting his sleeve brush against my shoulder. I gave him a dirty look, but I don't think he saw.

I looked back up at Fang, who had an amused look on his face. He glanced down at the olive oil, and Angel giggled. I glanced at her, and then looked back at Fang.

"What?" I asked, confused.

He leaned across Ella and grabbed the plate, "Best we keep this away from you."

Angel, who was already laughing, was joined by Gazzy and Nudge, glanced in our direction, and smiled.

"I don't get it," Ella said.

"Nor do I," I said, giving Fang a sly glance.

Somehow, everyone grew quiet, except for Angel and Gazzy laughing and Nudge explaining it to Iggy. The rest of the table looked confused.

"What?" Ella asked Fang, "Why do you do that?"

Fang sighed, shaking his head.

"Back in New York City," Nudge started, "we went to this restaurant."

"It was really fancy," Angel jumped in. "Like, white table cloths and chandeliers and there was even a fireplace!"

"And Max said we could go there," Nudge said, "And it was like, a once in a lifetime shot. Going into this place, because it was so nice and all."

Ah. Now I understood. They decided to torment me by telling funny stories. Ha ha. Not funny.

"Anyway, we went in, and it was so cool. There was stained glass _everywhere. _Way pretty."

"Nudge," Iggy sighed. "The short version. Please."

"Right," she said. "Anyway, there was a little problem in getting our food and our waiter was being an idiot so Max went and dumped the whole little plate of olive oil on his head!"

Looking down, I smiled a little, while a few people laughed.

"You dumped _olive oil_ on his head?" Mom asked, incredulous.

"Well," I started. "It was an accident."

"Yeah," Gazzy said. "She _accidently_ put it on his head." And then he cracked up again.

"It's really not that funny," I said, "And he was being a complete jerk."

"What was the problem?" she asked.

"He wouldn't bring us our food, and we were hungry," I said, as if this were a perfectly reasonable explanation. Which it was.

"So you dumped a condiment on his head," she said.

I rolled my eyes. Glancing up at Fang, I saw he was smirking.

"Hey, Ella?" I asked. "Can you duck down for a minute? I wouldn't want to hit you," I said, staring straight at Fang.

"Hey," Ella said sternly, "No fighting at the table, you two."

I gave Fang a thanks-a-bundle look, and he smirked some more. Then his eyes softened a little, and I understood.

It was a way to ease up on the tension.

I gave him a half-smile, showing him that I understood. He nodded.

Looking up, I saw Mom staring at me. "What?" I asked.

She shook her head, and I heard Danica whisper to Fang, "Does she do this a lot?"

Fang looked at me, meeting my glare; I could've sworn he was holding back a chuckle. "All the time."

"I do not!" I said, "That guy was a complete jerk. He deserved it!" Leaning forward, looking past Fang, I added, "I am generally a very nice person."

This caused Fang and Iggy to burst out laughing.

"What?" I said, "I am. Right?" I said, to Nudge.

"Yeah, okay," she said, smiling.

"She's only saying that because she knows better than to disagree with you," Iggy said.

"No, I wasn't," Nudge said, "Max can be really nice and sweet."

Yep. That's me.

"There you go," I said.

"Well," Fang said, "You're not nice and sweet to me."

Taken back, I said, shrugging, "That's because you're mean to me. So why should I be nice to you?"

He paused, "Harsh."

I shrugged again, "You see, Fang can be nice. He just isn't to me," I said to Danica. I wouldn't want him to get a bad reputation or anything.

Fang glared at me, and I continued. "He just covers it up with his dark, hard-core, I-don't-care vibes that he gives off. He doesn't want anyone to know that's he's a real softie. Deep down. Deep, _deep _down."

She laughed, knowing I was only teasing. Fang didn't seem to appreciate my humor though.

"I'm not a softie," he said.

I smiled, "Yes, you are."

His eyes narrowed. "Name five nice things I've ever done for you."

I paused. "See?" he said, "You can't think of anything."

I smiled evilly, "Okay, one time, when we were six, you offered—,"

"Not that one," he said quickly, and my smile grew larger.

"Why not?" I asked.

"See?" he said, "That was the only one you could think of."

"It is not," I said and paused, thinking hard.

He rolled his eyes, but then glanced at me sideways, asking if I was okay.

Mom tapped my knee again. "Why isn't Iggy talking to his parents?" she asked quietly.

I looked down at his side of the table, where he was talking to Ben and Stephanie, but ignoring his mom and dad.

"He doesn't like them that much," I said, "I thought I told you that he met them already."

"You did, but I don't know why he doesn't like them."

I looked at her. "I'll tell you later," She nodded.

"Nudge seems to be happy," she said.

I nodded, "Out of all of us, she's wanted this the most. She's the most normal, I think."

"That's nice," she said, "You're handling this really well, Max."

I shrugged, "I have to. And I've had lots of practice of lying under pressure."

She looked at me, and then rubbed my knee again. I turned to Fang abruptly.

"I got one," I said, "Back in Colorado, we were all swimming in the pond, and it was Angel and I against everyone else in an extreme water gun fight. And Gazzy grabbed my leg and pulled me down under the water, and you thought I was drowning."

He frowned. "So?"

I smiled, "You pulled me back up. Even though I could swim, and totally wasn't going to sink."

He shrugged, nonchalantly, "I would've regretted letting you die by the next morning."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, "You wanted to be the big hero and save my life. Admit it."

He shook his head, "You're crazy. You must have memory loss or something."

"Whatever," I said, "You would've missed me if I was gone anyway."

He shrugged again, but looked straight into my eyes, "Probably."

* * *

**So, I know this chapter is really short and all, but I needed something of a filler between my last one and then next one. Which will be updated on the 12****th****. Or before then. **


	17. Goodbye

**So, let me first of say that I hate high school and all of this freaking homework and stupid textbook readings and stupid teachers that are absent, but don't tell you so you do all of their homework at 6:00 in the freaking morning before school because you've procrastinated by writing a 13 page long chapter of MAXIMUM RIDE FANFICTION.**

**Anyway, when I first listened to this song, I was like, whoa, it's really good. And then I listened to the lyrics and I was like OHMYIGGY THIS IS TOTALLY LIKE MY STORY, so I had to add in the lyrics.**

**And now, enough of me talking, because you probably don't want to hear it anyway.

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**

"Let me tell you goodbye,

Doesn't mean we'll never be together again.

If you wake up and I'm not there

I won't be long away oh."

--Hootie and the Blowfish

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**Chapter 17: Max P.O.V.**

"Max," Angel whined, for the thousandth time it felt like. "Gazzy did it again. After you told him not to."

I sighed, but secretly, I was really enjoying it. This morning, I took off my watch so I wouldn't be tempted to check the time every five seconds, which seemed to pass by rather quickly.

"Gazzy," I said, as he positioned his wings upward, at a perfect angle to speed up and knock into Angel's left wing, "Knock it off."

He smiled and shrugged, which was exactly what he did the first twenty-something times I told him to quit. He flew over to Iggy, as Angel flew closer to me.

"What does my house look like again?" she asked. I smiled as I began to talk.

"It super humongous," I said, exaggerating, but I knew to them, it would be, "And your future bedroom is just as big. In comparison."

"Do you think Total will get along with the other dogs?" she asked, peering from the corner of her eye to Total who was flying away from the Gasman. All Gazzy seemed to be doing was causing trouble lately.

"He just wants your attention, Max," Angel said.

"Yeah," I said, distracted.

"So?" she asked, "Do you think Total will fight them?"

"Who?" I asked.

"The other pets you said Dad had."

I fought back the awful feeling that was sinking in my stomach. She was already calling him _Dad._

"Well, Total's not really known for getting along with other dogs. Don't you think?" I said.

She sighed, "I wish he did."

I swallowed back my, _Well, sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them to, _knowing she would see right through it. Angel was no dummy.

I looked down, seeing everyone watching us. Some with shock, some with envy, mostly with awe. We certainly had surprised everyone with the sight of our wings. Nudge had told me that she had shown her family last night. That was rather brave of her, seeing she was alone, with just these people she had never met before, but hey, that's Nudge.

Fang was watching me, as he had been all morning, his eyes searching for mine rather often, but I never made contact. He had to be able to see right through me, through everything single smile that I had been faking this morning. And if he said something along the lines of _oh everything will be fine,_ I would probably break down. And I really wasn't in the mood to have a group sympathy fest.

Keeping my eyes down at the ground, I realized how high we had climbed in the half-hour we had been flying. It was easy to get lost in your thoughts, and easy to forget how bad normal people's eyesight was.

"Guys," I said, shouting over the rush of wind, "Let's move down a little bit."

"Are we landing already?" Nudge asked, disappointed.

"No, I just don't think they can see us," I said and she smiled.

"Oh, yeah. Do you think they like it? The flying?" she asked, looking down.

"I think so," I said. "It looks like they do."

"I'm glad," Nudge said. "And everyone seems really cool with the whole wing thing, which is pretty awesome. It would really suck if they didn't like them, or thought we were weird or something."

"Yeah," I said.

"I can't wait to see my house! Do you know I'm going to share a room with Olivia and Brooke? How much fun will that be? I've never shared a room with a sister before!" she said, and I pulled back, stung.

She had shared a room with Ella, Angel and I back at home. And she shared her room with Angel in Colorado.

Nudge kept talking, not even noticing the look on my face. Apparently, it wasn't obvious.

"And they said the town we live in is _huge._ A lot bigger than the town we were in with Dr. Martinez. So I won't be so bored all the time," she said, getting really excited as her wings started beating faster.

She was bored with Mom? But we always did things. Fun things. Or I thought they were fun things.

"Hey Max?" she asked, and I suddenly realized how far away we've gotten. I looked at her, and her eyes were casted downward, and her smile had shrunk.

"I'm nervous," she said, a little more quietly than before, "What if I get teased at school? What if someone finds out about my wings? Will I get into trouble? Wasn't that the deal? I can go live with my parents if they keep me safe and if they don't tell anyone? But what if they turn out like Iggy's parents and call the newspaper or TV station?"

"I'm not sure Nudge," I said, "But, it seems like, if they really love you, and I'm sure they do, they won't tell anyone. And they'll make sure that you're happy and safe."

She smiled, still not looking at me. "Thanks Max," she said, "You always say they right thing. Well, most of the time." Her smile grew larger as she pivoted on one wing and flew back the direction we came from.

If she thought I was so great why was she leaving me?

I shut down that thought as quickly as possible. I wasn't about to get cocky. I was technically the one making them leave. It was just that no one was protesting.

She fled away, off towards Angel and at the same exact moment Fang glided right above me. Nudge smirked in our direction, and then did some flip-thing, probably showing off in front of her parents.

I moved away from him, heading towards the ground, already planning on landing soon. Iggy's plane ride home was at eleven-thirty, and it was already nine. I couldn't help looking at my watch; it was like a ticking time bomb, counting down the seconds until my life was over.

Only not that dramatic.

Fang kept moving in on me, and I kept gracefully moving away, trying not to make it obvious that I was avoiding him. Thankfully, Gazzy flew directly behind me and rammed into my feet, making my fly forward. He laughed loudly, holding his stomach.

"You're it!" he screamed above the wind, as I turned around.

"You're so dead," I said, "Just wait till I catch you." I was smiling when he flew off, and I quickly caught up to him. I grabbed his waist, pulling him upward, smushing his wings against my chest so he couldn't get away.

"Max!" he shrieked, but he was laughing, which made it hard for me to hang on to him.

"What?" I said, as if I was speaking to a toddler, "What's wrong? Am I going to high for you?" I straightened myself upward, my face hitting the sun, and I shot up like a rocket, pouring on the super speed.

Gazzy laughed more, "This is so awesome!"

"Really?" I said, dumbly, "You think so?" Our voices got lost behind us, and I started to slow down just a little.

Then, suddenly, I let him go, watching as he went down through a cloud, his wings closed because he wasn't expecting me to drop him. I smiled more, and then turned back down to see where he had gone.

The Gasman met me halfway, and I could see the four others, who were laughing. Gazzy caught up to me, his face part smile, part scowl, and he was pretty wet.

"You suck so bad," he said, beating his wings.

"Do I?" I said, laughing.

He punched my arm, but not that hard. I looked at him. Gazzy had never hit me before. Sure, he wrestled with Fang and Iggy all the time, and it was different when we were sparring, but he had never just outright hit me.

"What was that?" I asked, putting on my best, you're-in-so-much-trouble voice, but it was hard knowing that in a few hours, I technically wouldn't be the boss of him anymore.

He looked down, almost embarrassed. He mumbled an apology, but I grabbed his arm gently.

"You ever hit me again and I will chop you up and flush you down the toilet," I said, sternly, "Now tell me what's wrong."

He looked up at me, surprised, although I had no idea why.

"What?" I asked, a little more sympathetic.

"I'm gonna miss you," he said quickly, looking straight at me.

I blinked then tried to bring him closer for a hug, but it was difficult because our wings kept getting in the way. But I gave him a sort-of-air-hug, and then held his hand.

"I'm going to miss you, too," I said, biting my lip, wondering when I was going to wake up from this heartbreaking nightmare.

* * *

About an hour or so later, we were standing in the hotel of the lobby, desperately trying to hold it together. Fang was holding Angel's hand, and Nudge was leaning against my side.

Iggy was the first to leave. Not to jump to conclusions, but I think that his parents wanted to get away from the flock, so Iggy wouldn't change his mind. Unfortunately, as he and I both knew, this wasn't an option. The leaving thing. Which only made it so much worse.

My mom stepped up first, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, and he awkwardly hugged her back. He was a full two heads taller than her, already past six feet tall, so he had to lean down when she whispered something in his ear.

When she pulled apart, Ella hugged him next, with one arm tightly around his neck. They pulled apart quickly, and Iggy's face was a little pinkish.

He turned around to face us, remarkably right in front of us although he couldn't see. At first, no one moved. It was like, maybe if we didn't even breathe, time would stop. And then we wouldn't have to split up.

But I never said we were optimists. Years of living undercover with nothing but a moments notice of enemies approaching and being on the receiving end of negative effects and awful news, pretty much guaranteed our pessimistic personalities.

Nudge moved towards him first, flinging her arms around his waist, and her shoulders shuddered as she breathed. Iggy pressed his cheek on her head and whispered something that I couldn't hear.

Off to the side, I noticed Iggy's mom and dad waiting by the door. Tom looked impatient; he had kept glancing down at his watch while Iggy was buying for some more time. But now, Susan looked almost sad and sympathetic, and she played with the necklace around her neck.

Nudge backed away, and sank down on the couch beside me. Her head flung back as she closed her eyes. She sighed, as the Gasman walked towards Iggy.

Rummaging around in his backpack, Iggy pulled out a large brown bag, the kind you would get at the grocery store. He handed it to Gazzy, who peered inside curiously. He smiled up at Iggy.

"Put it in your backpack, so when the airport security questions you, Angel will just talk her way out of it," Iggy said, and I rolled my eyes.

"But why would security question anything in there?" I asked, placing a hand on Gazzy's shoulder. I gave him a stern look, "Don't do anything stupid. I don't want the federal government to put you on their Most Wanted list for exploding an airplane."

"Sweet. Thanks, man," Gazzy said, and he and Iggy bumped fists.

Iggy shrugged. "Probably wouldn't be allowed to keep it anyway," he said, glaring perfectly in my direction. Like it was my fault for making explosives illegal.

Angel had moved forward, wrapping her skinny, little arms around Iggy's waist and pressed her head to his stomach.

"Bye, Iggy," she said, sniffling.

He ruffled her hair, "Bye, Ange. Be good."

She pulled back, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and went to sit next to Nudge on the couch. I leaned down and rubbed her arm, my other hand still on Gazzy's shoulder.

Fang stood up, and he and Iggy did that man-hug thing, that guys always do. They didn't say anything, but I could see Fang's hands clenching.

I stepped forward, and we hugged. I sucked in my breath quickly, trying not to cry.

"I hate you so much," he said, and I got the feeling that I really didn't comprehend how much he didn't want to leave.

"Sorry," I mumbled against his shoulder.

"And there's really no other way around this?" he asked, his hand squeezing into a fist on my back.

"No. Sorry," I repeated.

He sighed. "You would think the great Maximum Ride would find a way around this. But I guess not."

"Guess I'm not that great."

We didn't say anything for a moment. Then, I stood on my toes, hating that I had to do that, and leaned up and kissed him on his cheek.

We pulled away, and Iggy stepped back, maneuvering around the small coffee table with perfect ease. He slung his backpack, his only bag, on his back and then turned around to meet his parents.

He walked out the exit, the automatic doors opening with their forward steps, as Susan tried to be reassuring and place her hand on Iggy's arm, but he pulled away.

Angel choked back a sob next to me, and Fang pulled her next to him. Gazzy stepped backwards towards me, and I placed my hand on top of his head.

And then Iggy walked into the parking lot, without ever looking back.

* * *

"Okay," Nudge said, about an hour or so after Iggy left, "I'm all set. These are all my bags."

"This is all you have?" Henry said, sounding surprised. He took a second look at her three bags, none of them all that big.

Nudge shrugged, "Yeah. I don't have much." She took a deep breath, and then turned around to face us, her palms sliding down the front of her jeans as she smiled.

"So," she said, "Who's gonna miss me the most?"

No one laughed. I tried to smile, but my attempt was less than perfect. Angel sprang towards her, her head already buried in Nudge's shirt.

Nudge hugged her back, and they both silently cried, their shirts getting wet with tears. From the corner of my eye I saw Fang looking at me for what seemed like the trillionth time today, but I refused to make eye contact with him.

"We never got a chance to do it," Angel whined, and I had no idea what she was talking about.

"I know! I'm so upset," Nudge sighed, "I guess we'll have to post-pone it a bit. Nothing will happen in the meantime. I mean, seriously."

"I guess," Angel said. And then she pulled apart, "Bye," she said, her voice small.

"Bye," Nudge smiled. Then she winked at her, and Angel giggled, her hand covering her mouth, as she moved to stand next to me. Angel looked up at me, and her face was a mixture of tears and laughter, a bittersweet combination.

Fang hugged her next, and Nudge's arms tightly gripped his sides, her head pressed against his shoulder. She mumbled something I couldn't make out. He rubbed her back.

She backed away from her and turned towards Ella, holding out her arms.

"Bye Nudge," she said, "I'm gonna miss your help with trying to give Max a make-over."

"Which totally never happened," Nudge said.

Oh, thank God.

Mom hugged her next, pulling her close. "Bye, Dr. M," she said, "Thanks for letting us stay with you."

"You are more than welcome," Mom said.

They pulled apart, and Mom pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as Nudge smiled. Then she turned to Gazzy.

"Bye, Gaz," she said. I pushed him forward with the back of my palm, gently telling him to hug her. At the awkward age of nine, he was pretty uncomfortable with mushy affection, even if was coming from a sort-of sister. Especially if it was coming from a sort-of sister.

They hugged quickly, and after, Nudge sprang at me, wrapping her wrists tightly around my neck, and she breathed heavily against my shoulders, and my eyes squeezed shut.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," she whispered, "I've been, like, actually fantasizing about this, for like, _ever._"

"I know," I said.

"I'm gonna miss you," she said, pressing closer against me.

"I'm going to miss you too," I repeated.

"Think about what I said," she added, without missing a beat. She pulled away, her heads still in back of my neck.

"What was that?" I asked, confused.

She smiled wickedly, looking pointedly at Fang. I blushed and she backed farther away, to where he family was waiting patiently.

"Bye guys. I promise to call you as soon as I get home!" she said, turning around and picking up one of her duffel bags. Sophie and Henry grabbed the other ones.

_Home. _I tried to push that out of my head. It really was her home now.

She walked through the same door that Iggy had a little while ago. She turned around when she was outside, and waved and smiled as she walked away, but I could tell she was trying to hold back tears. Just like I was.

* * *

For a change of scenery, we were outside in the parking lot this time. I handed Dan Angel's hot pink bag that she had picked out herself, on one of our many excruciating trips to Wal-Mart. I had thought I wasn't going to miss those outings, but now, I kind of thought I might.

Dan stood there, a hand on Angel's shoulder, very fatherly like, "You guys good to go?" he asked. They nodded.

"Okay," he said.

Mom hugged Gazzy first, squeezing him tightly. "Behave yourself," she said, "I hope I don't see you name and photo on the national news anytime soon."

"Don't worry," said Gazzy, "I don't get caught. Especially now, because Max always seems to know when I've done something."

I shrugged, "It's a gift."

He smiled, as Mom went to hug Angel, "You be good, also."

"I will, Dr. Martinez," she said, smiling sweetly. Ella moved up and hugged Gazzy quickly.

"I really gonna miss—actually, I'm _not_ going to miss you getting me into trouble when I didn't do anything," she said, flashing Mom a pointed look.

She hugged Angel, then added, "And I'll watch out for anything new."

"You guys have some secret code or something?" I asked, my hands on my hips.

"Nope," Angel said, smiling.

Wendy came up with Total's new blue leash in her hand. "All good to go," she said. "Whenever you guys are ready," she smiled.

I looked down at Total, who had a sour look on his face. He had to be kept in the hotel room all day because they didn't allow dogs in the lobby. And, boy, did he enjoy that.

I leaned down and scratched behind his ear, "She called me a dog. Multiple times. And not just a dog. _The _dog. Like I don't have a name, or anything."

"She just doesn't understand. Remember, my mom did that when she first met you, and look how well you get along now!" I said.

He scoffed, and turned around, and hopped into the backseat of the rental car.

"He doesn't like adapting," Angel said.

"You can say that again," I sighed.

For a moment, the four of us just stood there and twiddled our thumbs, trying to buy time, which totally wasn't going to happen.

Fang took the first step towards Angel, and hugged her tightly, as she shuddered against him. I reached out for Gazzy, and he willingly came towards me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. I rubbed his back, between his wings, and noticed how uneven his breathing was. I planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Please be good," I said, "Try to stay out of too much trouble." He nodded against my shoulder, and sniffled.

He pulled away from me, rubbing his eyes with his fists, embarrassed by the weepy emotion. Angel on the other hand, having no qualms about tears, leaped into my arms, and burst into tears.

"I'm gonna miss you," she said.

Number One Line of the Day.

"Me too," I said, leaning down, and kissing the top of her head. I saw Fang hug Gazzy, and noticed how he didn't pull away as soon as he did for everyone else.

"You wouldn't make us go if it was unsafe, right?" Angel asked.

"Of course not," I said, "What have you learned in your seven years of Max lessons, huh?"

She laughed sadly, "Dan says we're gonna be late for our plane. But he doesn't want to say anything," she whispered.

"Okay," I said, pulling away from her, but she managed to quickly kiss my cheek.

"I love you," she said.

"Love you too," I replied, squeezing her hand, before she turned around and looked up towards Dan.

"Ready you two?" he asked.

Gazzy looked at Angel, and then nodded.

I stepped backward towards Fang, my hands clasped together as my arm twisted in front of me.

I watched as Dan opened the door for them, and Gazzy looked back at me. I managed to smile, as he climbed into the car, Angel following him. She waved at Fang and I, the only ones left.

Then, I saw the brakes flash once, and the car pulled out of the parking space, and I felt my throat close up. Distantly, I felt Fang's hand hovering against not quite touching, but brushing against the fabric of my shirt.

Angel and Gazzy waved at us through the back window of the car as they pulled out of the parking lot. I bit my lip, and stepped backward, bumping into Fang's hand, but he didn't move and neither did I.

We stood there for a little while after their car left the parking lot. Fang's hand was pressed against the small of my back, and I brought my fist up to my mouth as I choked back my sobs. I had prided myself for staying dry for so long; I wasn't about to give up now.

Fang made some sort of circle motion on my back. "And then there were two," he said.

* * *

"Do you have everything?" I asked for the thousandth time, "Laptop? Camera? IPod? Passport?"

"Max," Fang said, crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm not leaving the country. I don't need a passport."

"Well, do you have one? Did you forget it?" I asked.

He sighed, "I don't have one."

"Well, I guess you're good then."

Standing in the middle of the airport entrance, right before you had to go through security, we were trying to avoid the joyous greeting of couples and families hugging each other we they arrived.

Mom and Ella had already said good-bye to Fang, and now he and his entire family was waiting on me. But I had just lost my entire family, and Fang was the last one left. And of course, having him know everything, and realizing this was completely unavoidable, only made it so much worse.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I quickly picked it up, hoping for any chance to stall for time.

"It's Iggy," I said to Fang. I flipped the phone open.

"Iggy?" I said.

"Hey," he said, sounding tired.

"Hey!" I was super excited to talk to him; even though it had only been about six hours since he had left, "How was the plane ride?"

"Awful," he said, sounding miserable, "I sat right behind this guy who declined the whole trip. I felt so claustrophobic."

"Oh," I said, "Sounds pretty bad."

"Yeah," he responded, "Look, I can't talk for long, but I just wanted to call to let you know I landed."

"Alright. Thanks for calling," I said, feeling bad that he couldn't talk for longer.

"Sorry," he said, "I'll call you later." And then he hung up.

"He landed," I told Fang, who nodded.

"Now," I said, "Are you absolutely _positive_ you didn't forget anything?"

"Max," he said, sounded aggravated, "I've got a plane to catch."

My heart sank. Even Fang wanted to leave me.

We stood there awkwardly for a minute, and I could feel his dark eyes on me, but I was looking down at my feet.

"I'll call as soon as the plane lands," he said, and I nodded.

"You'll be okay, right?" he asked, and placed a hand on my arm.

I nodded again, "I'll be fine."

"Okay," he said. "But you know, it's not like you never see me again."

"I know."

We stood there again for another awkward minute. He still hadn't moved his hand.

"Max," he said, sounding distraught.

"Don't even go there," I said, "I'm not going to cry."

He looked at me for a moment, and then wrapped his arms around me like it was something he did all the time. I pressed my forehead against his shoulder and he rubbed my back. I slipped my arms around his back, pressing my fingers against his shoulder. He moved some of my hair away from my face.

"It'll get better," he mumbled. I nodded against.

"It's only for a little while," he said.

We stayed there for a little longer, and I didn't want to let go. I breathed heavily, and Fang kept rubbing my back in rhythmic movements.

But soon, he sighed, "Max," he said, "I really have to go."

I stepped back from him, moving away, embarrassed that our huge mush-gushy-hug fest in front of everyone in the entire airport. He kept his hand on my arm, and he looked worried.

"I'll call you," he promised.

I nodded, and he stepped away, picking up his bag from the floor. He took one last look at me, and then walked over to his new family, and got in line to go through security. I watched as he went through the metal detectors, without even looking back.

If this were a perfect world, Fang would turn around, and then jump over the metal gate, thing, and then run towards me and promise never to leave me ever again, realizing how wrong he was about wanting to leave and go all the way to New Freaking Jersey in the first place and then he would sweep me up and we would fly off into the sunset.

Instead, he walked until he was almost around the corner, then turned back around, and gave me a small smile. I couldn't even smile back. He vanished around the corner, and almost instantly, I dropped my head into my hands and cried, right there in the middle of the airport.

* * *

**I wonder how many people hate me now…**

**But NO BOTHER. Because I have a big bowl of PARTY CAKE ICE CREAM (which, if you have not tasted, I suggest that you go out to the nearest grocery store and by yourself a huge cartoon of Turkey Hill Party Cake ice cream, and eat it. Because it's like heaven in a carton.) And, I have 5 chapters left of this story, so I'm almost done. YAY!**


	18. Alone

**First off, YAY I UPDATED QUICKLY! So, I had this done, like, yesterday, but I started it on my aunt's laptop and she has a newer version of Word, than I do, so I had to copy and paste it to a new document today at school, but here it is!**

**Second, I just wanted to thank all of these WONDERUL, AMAZING, FANTABULAWESOME people who reviewed the last chapter. I think it was the most reviewed chapter I had ever gotten. So GO YOU.

* * *

**

"Happiness, its been no friend to me  
But forever after ain't what its all cracked up to be  
Yeah, I had a taste, you were my fantasy  
But I lost my faith when I hit reality."  
--Bon Jovi

* * *

**Chapter 18: Max P.O.V.**

As I was tying the drawstring to my shorts, there was a knock on the door. Mom's head popped in as she opened the door, cradling the cordless phone to her shoulder.

"Fang's on the phone," she said. I put out my hand, and she handed it to me, giving me a worried glance.

"Hey," I said, noticeably excited, "What's up?"

"Not much," he said. Mom left the room leaving my door opened. I bent down to pick up my sneakers, "How's it going?"

"Eh," I said, untying one of my shoes, "Nudge called last night. She's going on a vacation for two weeks. Some place in Georgia. She sounded excited."

"Yeah, I talked to her this morning," Fang said.

"Do you think she sounded okay?" I asked.

"Sounds like she's getting along alright," he responded.

"Well, that's Nudge. She can adapt almost anywhere."

It's been about a week since we had all split up. It was still at the point where we called each other every day or every two days. From what I heard, it seemed like everyone, including Iggy, was getting used to their parents; and enjoying it.

"How about you?" Fang asked.

I dropped my shoe to the ground and stuffed my foot in it, placing the phone between my cheek and my shoulder. I had been less than okay. It was pretty uncomforting, being mostly along in a house that had been overpopulated for about a year. I now had my own room, instead of sharing it with Ella, Nudge, and Angel. And it was eerily quiet in the mornings, without Iggy and Fang, our two resident early birds, awake and functioning in the kitchen.

"I'm fine," I said.

"I talked to your mom," he said, without missing a beat, and my face fell. "She's says you haven't been eating. Or sleeping."

"How would she know?" I said, "You know she's not home during the day."

"Have you been eating, Max?"

I paused, and put on my other shoe. "I've become nocturnal," I said with slight sarcasm, knowing he would see right through my lie, "I sleep during the day and then stay awake all night. I eat when she's not home."

There was silence on the other end. I bent down to tie my shoes, and noticed that my room needed cleaning. I had dust bunnies residing under my bed.

"Why haven't you been eating?" he asked,

"You know," I said, know annoyed, "For someone who around eight days ago, just left me, you sure seem to care too much. You don't have to play up the concern, Fang."

More silence.

I sighed. "Look," I said, "I'm gonna go. I don't have much to talk about anyway."

"You were the one who forced us to leave, Max. Do you really think that if there was an option, no one would've stayed?"

I sank down to my bed, "You and Iggy were the only ones who knew about that. The others didn't fight me about leaving."

He was quiet. Glancing down at my watch, I realized I had about five minutes before Ella would kill me.

"Fang," I said, at the same time he said, "Angel knows."

I switched the phone to my other ear, "How do you know that?"

He sighed, as if realizing what he had said. "She asked why you wanted her to go live out in Oregon."

"She would've left anyway," I said. That wasn't a big deal. Angel would've found out sometime or later anyway, "I asked her if was happy going to live with her father. And she said she was excited."

Fang didn't say anything for a long moment. "Oh," he said after a while, but it didn't sound like he believed me, "Are you going to Nudge's house when she gets back?" he asked, completely changing the subject.

"Of course," I said. Nudge's parents, playing the good guys, offered to have the six of us hang out at their place for a long weekend after they got back from their trip. "Will I see you before then?" I asked.

"Probably not," he asked, "Unless you want to fly, like sixteen hours straight," he said.

"I could probably make it in around nine," I said. "I got the super speed, remember?"

"Still," he said, "You would need to take breaks and everything."

"Well, maybe we can meet halfway or something."

He paused, "I don't think so."

I sucked in a breath. He didn't want to see me? Was he not allowed to see me? I tightened the grip on the phone, and Ella thankfully barged into my room.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"One sec," I said, moving the phone away from my mouth.

"Who are you talking to?" she asked.

"Fang," I said, and she nodded.

"Hey Fang," Ella shouted, so he could hear her over the phone, "I need you to get off the phone so Max can come running with me."

"You're going to run?" he asked, incredulous. "Like, actual running? Not like, running away from anything?"

I picked up how he had said, anything, opposed to anyone, but decided not to fret over that. "Yeah, Ella needs to run four miles every other day before soccer starts."

"Four miles at once?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "That's what she told me."

"And now," Ella said, walking closer to me, practically screaming, "Max needs to become my personal trainer and not your would-be girlfriend."

I blushed madly, although Fang couldn't see me. "I'll call you later," I promised, and then hung up before he could say anything.

"Ella!" I shouted, standing up, "I'm not his girlfriend."

"But you would be," she said, "Therefore, you're his would-be girlfriend. And by talking to him, you're just confirming that fact."

I rolled my eyes, "I can't talk to my friend?"

"Not when your sister comes first," she said, grabbing my wrist, "Now let's go. I don't want to run all day in this scorching heat."

I picked up my cell phone on the way out, and stuffed it into my pocket. Ella noticed.

"In case Fang calls back?" she asked, and I rolled my eyes.

Walking into the living room, I noticed Mom sitting on the couch, watching the news. She noticed Ella's grip on my arm, and smiled.

"Guess you got roped into leaving the house today," she said.

"I haven't seen the sun in _days_," I joked.

"No time for chit-chat," Ella said, dragging me towards the door. Magnolia perked her head up, waiting for her invitation to go for a jog with us. "I have to run two miles today."

"I thought you said four."

She shrugged, "What's the difference? I still have to run."

I sighed. So I got dragged into doing my sister's exercise routine. If the Flock were here, I could go outside with Gazzy and Nudge, or be playing a game with Angel, or talking with Iggy and Fang.

But no, instead, I have to go out running, with Ella who had completely turned into a helicopter.

"Alright," I asked when we were outside, "which way are we going?"

"Um," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "I was thinking about running through town, because on the other side there's a trail that goes behind the high school. I was planning on running that."

I nodded, and then started jogging towards "town", which was actually about four blocks worth of pizza parlors, nail salons, and pharmacies. There was another side of the town, which was actually were everything _really_ was, but we were not close enough to walk to it.

At the first traffic light, I stopped, waiting for the little green man to pop up on the screen telling us it was okay to cross.

Besides me, Ella was panting, her palms on her knees, hanging her head down, so her ponytail dangled over her shoulder.

"Last time… I… _ever_… ask you… to come… with me," she said, trying to catch her breath.

I stood up straighter, "We only were out for like, fifteen minutes!"

"Max," she said, still panting. "I get that you're all like, fast, and tough, and all, and can run for like, twenty hours without stopping, but I'm only on JV soccer, not trying out for the Olympics."

"Well," I said, starting to cross, "Now you'll be the faster person on the field."

She grabbed my arm with weak protest, "Please, five more minutes."

I rolled my eyes, "You're pathetic."

"Says the one who stayed in her room for three days straight."

My face darkened. I turned away from her, watching angrily as the cars flew by.

She didn't say anything for a moment. But she stood up, and came next to me, her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just thought that maybe you could use some time, just to get your mind off of things. Maybe if you came with me, you would focus on me, instead of everyone leaving you."

I shrugged, "It's no big deal."

She waited for a moment, "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

She glared up at me, "_Slow. Down._"

I smiled a tiny bit, "Okay, okay. I'll walk."

"Thank you," she said.

The light turned green, and we were off. I had some idea of where we were going; in the few months we had been here, I've been through this town a few times. And I've flown over it plenty.

"I have a question," Ella said, while we were jogging.

"Shoot," I said easily, not out of breath.

"Why did Fang… act so surprised… when you told him you were going to run?" she asked between breaths.

"Because I hate running," I said, "And I never do. Unless someone's chasing me."

"Or if you're running away from someone," she said.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

She gave me a sideways glance, and I didn't understand her point.

I faltered for a step, and then caught my rhythm again, but now all of a sudden, I was out of breath.

She knew.

"Ella," I said.

"I can't believe you would just let him leave you like that!" she said, breathing hard, "That is just so unlike you. And come on. You _like_ him! How could you watch him go, without even telling him that! He might not ever see you again!"

I sighed, "First off, he wanted to go. Second, I'm going to see him again."

"But what if you don't?" she asked.

I gave her my glare-of-death, "I _will._"

She backed down after that, but by that time, I had already realized what had been said.

"How did you know about that? That I… um, ran?"

She rolled her eyes, "Iggy told me."

"How does he know?" I asked. Ella shrugged.

Which meant Fang had been blabbing.

"But, you do like him?" she asked, a little more than hopeful, as we turned a corner, "As in, more than a friend?"

I sighed, "I don't know," I lied.

She smiled at me. "I think he likes you."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever." He left me.

"Max," she said.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said quickly, pulling the elastic band out of my hair, letting it fall in my face, trying to cover up my emotions. Maybe if she didn't see how much I wished she were right, I could forget about this whole conversation, and move on.

My cell phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to check the caller ID.

"Fang?" Ella guessed.

"_No_," I lied, and put the phone back in my pocket, ignoring him.

"Do you ever think he would've stayed if he had the choice?" she asked, which was funny, because that was almost the same thing Fang had said to me before.

I rolled my eyes, "Of course. He had promised to never leave me again."

"And what does that tell you?"

"That he broke his promise," I said, speeding up.

"Max," Ella said, from behind me, "Slow down. I can't keep up with you."

I kept running. All I wanted was for someone to run after me. And no one was.

* * *

**It's officially great: I have so little homework tonight. And bonus! Only four classes tomorrow. WOOO. But they're my three hardest classes, and photography, so bummer. So, since I'm such an awesome procrastinator smiles maybe I'll work on the nineteenth chapter tonight. And hopefully have it updated this weekend. If I'm not too busy. Because I'm totally having a South of Nowhere (the Border) marathon party, which I'm pumped for and bringing PARTY CAKE ICE CREAM!**


	19. Hope

"On any other day, I'd be blue eyes crying,  
I could tell the world, 'At least I'm trying,  
The clouds are breaking,  
The sun is shining new for me and you."  
--Bon Jovi

"Max!" Nudge shouted as she bounced down the front steps, "Max, Max, Max!"

I laughed, and held out my arms and Nudge flew into them, grabbing onto my sides and squeezing her arms tightly around my waist. She pressed her forehead against my shoulder and I rubbed her back.

About three weeks later, we were having a flock reunion at Nudge's house. Three weeks without seeing each other had really paid a toll us, myself especially. More than once had I fallen asleep exhausted and crying, not that I would admit that to anyone.

Angel and Gazzy had both called me everyday, sometimes excited, sometimes miserable; Angel sometimes even crying. I knew that this was hard on them, probably because it wasn't until someone was gone that you really know how much you need them in the first place.

Nudge and Iggy were a little bit better. They didn't call me everyday; it was the other way around. Nudge, most of the time, was ecstatic about living with her real family. Only once, had she whined about missing the flock.

Iggy on the other hand, was a different story. I knew he really tried not to complain, but he couldn't help it. I also has known that he disliked his parents; back in Arizona, he had never talked about them, and every time while we were waiting for Jeb to come back with the information, he would always complain about how ridiculous it was, and how he would never, ever, go back there.

But when we talked now, it was different. He _despised_ them. He hated their personalities, and their rules, and the way that they acted around him. He didn't talk about it to me all that much, but when he did, he could not hide his resentment. It was actually impressive, considering the only other people he was known to dislike were the psycho scientists at the School.

Aside from Iggy, it did seem that everyone was enjoying staying with their families. Although it could be just a cover up. I had no idea of what was really going on in their lives apart from what they told me on the phone. I could only hope they were being honest.

"Max!" Angel shrieked, and she jumped off the front steps, leaving the door wide open. She wriggled her arms in between Nudge and me, and pressed her head against my side. Nudge stepped back, and Angel took her spot.

"Well," she said, "It certainly took you long enough to get here!" Nudge was smiling though, and I scowled back at her, laughing a little.

"Hey," I said, trying to untangle my fingers from Angel's now crazy hair, "How about, Hey, it's great to see you and you must be _exhausted_ from your four-hours-with-no-breaks flight."

"Max!" With difficulty, because Angel was still attached to me, I turned around to see Gazzy running towards the house, a skateboard in his hands. He stopped short in front of me, smiling, but he didn't come closer. I outstretched the arm that was not holding Angel.

"Don't I get a hug?" I said. Awkwardly, he came closer, and I pulled him in. I could feel his smile as I ruffled his hair.

When we were all done with our hugging, Nudge grabbed my hand and started pulling me in towards their house, "Come on, I want you to see my room."

I didn't want to burst her bubble, saying that I already had seen her room last time I was here, but I nodded, and squeezed Angel's hand as she smiled up at me. I turned back towards Gazzy who was slowly moving backwards towards the street, skateboard in hand, moving in the direction of Nudge's brothers. He stopped when he saw me looking.

"You can stay out here," I said, and he smiled, throwing the skateboard on the ground, and I watched him catch up to Nudge's brothers. Inside, I was secretly glad that he felt like he needed my permission, but I turned away and let Nudge lead me through her house.

"Oh, Max. I didn't know you arrived."

I turned my head to see Sophie in the kitchen doorway, a wooden spoon in her hand. She met me in the hallway, and pulled me in for a hug, which I admit, was way weird. I stood there not really knowing what to do, until she leaned back and smiled at me.

"You look tan. Have you been getting some sun?" she asked. I couldn't tell if she was being polite or if she was really intrigued by the shade of my skin.

"Um, not really," I said with a small smile, as Nudge tugged on my arm.

"I'm going to show Max my room," she said, and started moving down the hallway. Reluctantly, I followed. I smiled again back at Sophie, who watching us, and Angel grabbed my other hand. She smiled up at me when I glanced down.

"Ok, are you ready?" Nudge asked, her hand on the doorknob. I nodded, and the door swung open in this big dramatic flourish. I almost expected rose petals to come flying out as us or something.

I blinked, thinking, or maybe wishing, that I was seeing things. I had seen the room before, when I had come earlier in the summer, with Fang. It was the same room, I was sure, because Nudge's two sisters shared it with her.

Unfortunately, I was not seeing things.

"So, what do you think?" Nudge asked, bouncing lightly on her toes, "My sisters and I painted it ourselves."

"Well," I said, not sure of how to respond, "It definitely suits you."

I stared at it for a minute, before the wall started to give me a headache. She lead us over to her bed in the corner of her room, which was small and unmade. She sat down on it, and dragged me down with her. Angel sat on my other side.

"It's it amazing?" she said, leaning back and touching the wall, "You can almost see it at night, too." I turned away, and Olivia, who was lounging on a bed on the other side of the room, caught my gaze and gave me a sympathetic glance.

"I bet you can," I said.

"Don't you just love the sparkles, too?" Nudge asked and I nodded.

In fact, the sparkles, believe it or not, was the part I could handle. Nudge, being Nudge, had gone ahead and painted her walls, well, pink. But it wasn't even a nice looking pink, like a pastel pink, or rose pink, or a dark sophisticated pink.

No, it was more like, there was no paint left in the home improvement store, so the next best thing was to go to the pharamacy and bring how eighteen bottles of Pepto-Bismol and paint that to the wall. That was what it was like. And to cover up the color, sprinkled across the wall was an insane amount of glitter. It was so intense, I definitely thought I was going to get a headache.

"So, anyway," Nudge said, "I have something I want to tell you."

I looked at her, waiting for her to begin, but she was looking warily at Olivia, who was lounging there on the bed.

"Nudge?" I said.

"Well," she sighed, "I don't really know how you're going to react."

I looked to Angel, but she shrugged, "I don't know what she's going to say. Oh, wait. Now I do."

Nudge scowled at her, but instantly brought her attention back to me, "So. I found a house."

"A house?" I repeated, confused as to where this was going.

"Well, I was out flying one night, and I found a house. And it's really old and cool, but I didn't go inside. But I could tell that no one had lived there for a while. And it was all closed off and everything; there were no roads leading up to it. And it's secluded and all. No one would be able to find us," She was excited, I could tell by the way her eyes lit up.

But I didn't like where she was headed with this. I kept my face blank and my thoughts to myself as she continued.

"So, I was thinking, maybe we could live there."

For a brief moment, I actually considered it. I thought about what would happen if we did move there, all of us together again, living on our own, scavenging for food and not going to school. It was impossible of course. I had made my promises, and we had split up. I had to be on my best behavior. We all did. Of course, there was Plan B, but Fang didn't go for the whole let's-all-be-together-except-for-Max thing, and I doubted he would've changed his mind.

"Don't you like it here?" I asked Nudge.

Before she could answer, Angel burst in, "But Max! It would be like before! And we wouldn't have to listen to anyone, except for you of course, but it would be exactly like how we lived in Colorado!"

In an instance, they picked up on my lack of enthusiasm and exchanged a look, "Max?" Nudge asked, then stopped short.

For a moment, the three of us were quiet. I didn't dare to think anything, because there was a chance Angel would pick up on it. An impossible dream made it's way into my head, but I knew I had made a deal with Jeb. There was no more of this running business.

It was over.

"I don't understand," Nudge said slowly, glancing at Olivia. By the way she was casually flipping the pages of her magazine, it was obvious that she was listening to us, "You don't want to go?" Her eyebrows pulled together, and Angel gripped my hand tighter.

"Nudge," I started, but she cut in.

"Don't you miss us?" she asked.

"Of course I do. Don't be stupid," I smoothed out down her hair, and she looked up at me, her eyes narrow, "But it's different now."

"No it's not," she said, shaking her head, "It's completely the same. We could live the way we used to. It would be exactly the same."

I was stuck. In a second, I was caught up in Nudge's mind, where we lived like we had two years ago, before Angel had been kidnapped. We were together and safe, without anyone telling us what to do. It would be perfect, or as close to perfect as it could be.

The knock on the door unlocked me from my reverie, my dream of a chance of escaping the government's secret grasp they had on us. I couldn't help it; my mind was whirling with unreasonable possibilities, things that no one would go for. Of course, I knew the consequences.

The three of us turned towards the door, and were greeted by Fang and Iggy. Judging by Fang's expression, he was just as taken back by the color of the wall as I was.

I smirked at him as Nudge and Angel got up to hug them. They moved slowly, and I wondered what they thought I was thinking. Fang caught my glance and smiled at me in return, warming up the room.

"You do realize that Gazzy is practically beating himself up outside?" Iggy asked when I wrapped my arms around his neck, "I think he's trying to bipass the laws of gravity. Someone should warn him that he already has wings, so not to push his luck."

"Iggy," I said, "Stop it. He's enjoying himself." I picked up on Iggy's grouchy mood and nudged his arm as a warning.

"Hey," Fang said, getting my attention, "What's up?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

"You three looked... weird, when we walked in."

I looked at Nudge, who was staring at Angel, "I believe there is somewhere Nudge would like us to be," I said.

The flight there was silent. Too silent. Even Fang looked uncomfortable by lack of noise that was being crossed between us. There were the usual "How was everyone?" but after that, nothing. Nudge and Angel were suspicious of me, and I guess with good reason. There was a lot I wasn't telling them.

Now, we were standing in front of what Nudge had called a house. In fact, in an un-Nudge like manner, she had managed to under exaggerate. It was more of a mansion, than a house. Sure, it was creepy, with spiderwebs the size of my sofa, and ominous looking vines crawling up, but truthfully, it was perfect. The road leading to it was unmanagable, no car would ever be able to get through there. It was close enough to civilation to get food, and there was a small body of water near by that I noticed from the air.

At the end of our unnaturally straight line, Fang gave me a hard glare. He knew where my mind was headed. All I really needed to do was convince Fang to live here with the Flock. I was the only one being tracked, after all. It was completely perfect.

Widening my eyes, I turned away from him and smiled at Nudge, "Whoa," I said, "Is it possible, that for once in your life you didn't exaggerate?"

She smiled, "I didn't land to see it. I didn't know what would be down here. But it's really incredible isn't it? It's what we were looking for, right?"

"Right," It's too bad we were not really interested in the real estate anymore.

Fang came up behind me and tapped my wrist.

"No way," he whispered, "I know what you're planning."

"I wasn't thinking anything," I said loudly. Nudge turned to me.

He gave me a you're-not-fooling-me look, and Nudge asked, "What are you thinking?"

"Nudge, this is really great," I started, and her face feel.

"Don't even say it Max," she said, holding up her hand, "Don't make up some lie. Why don't you just say you don't want to live with us anymore? You really do want us to stay with our parents, just so you don't have to take care of us anymore."

My eyes widened, "No! Nudge, that's not it!"

She stepped closer, upset. "Then why can't we live here?"

"Nudge, we haven't even been inside yet. How do we know that it's safe?"

"But you and Fang are already saying we can't live here! That's what he whispered, isn't it? You don't want to be with us anymore right?"

Everyone was silent. "Nudge," I said, stepping closer. She didn't look angry, but she did look like she was about to cry.

"Max, I'm not some little kid you can push around anymore. I'm almost thirteen! You can't keep lying to me for much longer!" For every step that I took forward, she took another one back, until we were farther away from the others. They could still hear us perfectly, and Fang had followed behind me. Now Nudge had stopped moving, and she planted herself firmly on the ground.

"Tell me" she said defiantly.

I took a deep breathe, "Nudge."

Fang brushed passed me, and made his way towards Nudge. He placed a hand on her shoulder, which was slightly shaking, and whispered something to her that I couldn't hear. Nudge was staring at me the whole time.

"Max?" Gazzy asked from behind me.

Nudge stared into my eyes, her own filling with tears. "I hate you," she whispered, and I exhaled sharply, knowing I deserved it, "Why can't you just tell me? Why do you have all of these secrets? Do you not trust us?"

I stood there, and before I knew it, Nudge turned and ran. I stared after her, and Fang put up his hand, telling me not to chase after her. I wanted to know what he told her, but I was still preoccupied by the fact that she thought I didn't trust her.

"Let's get out of here," Fang said, and he took off, more than gladly followed by the others, to where Nudge was hovering in the air, her back turned towards us. I jumped into the air, slowly moving to where Fang was waiting for me.

This was not how our reunion was supposed to turn out at all.

**Alright, so not the best chapter, I know. And especially since I haven't even been on this website in months but…**

**I'm back! It's pretty pathetic, how I started this over a year ago, and I'm not even done. Someday, if I ever become a well-known author, I feel bad for whoever becomes in charge of assigning me deadlines.**

**ANYWAY, there's 3 chapters left, so now would be a great time to send me some plot-holes that need to be filled. There a still a few surprises that will turn up in the next few chapters but I just want to make sure that everything is cleared up. Hopefully my next update will be sooner.**


	20. Possible

**Sorry for the long-ish wait. Mid-terms are coming up/already passed (APUSH down, math and chem left) and I've been studying (cramming) for those, so writing was kinda on the back burner for the past few weeks.**

**Chapter 20:**

Slamming the car door loudly, I turned my back on Mom and crossed my arms. Ella stood in front of me, her hand above her eyes, shading them from the sun. She frowned, catching a glimpse of my face.

"What?" she asked.

Sighing, I moved towards her, dragging my feet with each step, "I don't see why you're making me do this."

She narrowed her eyes, grabbed my wrist a little too firmly, and pulled me away from the curb. Mom honked the horn, and I heard her drive away, leaving me with my unusually moody sister.

"Come on, Max," she said, and we walked. Well, it was more like, she stalked and I reluctantly followed. "You have been moping around all week, ever since you got back from Nudge's house. And besides, it's the summer, I have friends, and school is starting in a month and it would really damage my reputation if you were a loner and had no friends at school."

"What reputation?" I asked. Ella rolled her eyes.

"You think you're so funny," she mumbled, "Fine," she added her voice stronger, stopped walking and dropped my wrist. We were standing in front of some knock-off New York pizza place that resided in the only strip mall in our town.

"I thought maybe you just needed to get you're mind off of the flock. I know you're upset and all, but you really need to just _do something._ It's driving me crazy. And I've talked about you to my friends, and they really want to meet you, so here's the deal! We are going to eat lunch. And then we are going to see a movie with my friends, you're hopefully future friends. Understand? And if you're just going to be this stubborn for the rest of the day, you can just take off and go home."

I stared at her a moment without saying anything. Usually the only person who bossed me around like that was Fang. And nine out of ten times I didn't listen to him. But as Ella turned and walked though the open door of the restaurant without waiting for my response, I found myself following her.

We sat down at a table without saying anything, and Ella opened up a menu, glancing up at me behind the top of the menu. I stared back at her, still not talking. Finally, she placed it down on the table.

"Sorry," she started, "I usually don't act that way."

I casually picked up the menu she was just reading and shrugged, "It's fine."

"You looked surprised."

I paused before saying, "Only Fang's ever talked to me like that. I wasn't expecting it."

She raised her eyebrows, the tension gone. "Fang, huh?" she said in a sing-song voice, and I rolled my eyes.

"So how's that coming along? Did you confess your undying loving devotion to him yet?" she asked.

"How come every time we go out together we always ended talking about Fang?"

She smiled, as the waitress came to our table. We order, and I played with the silverware she had placed in front of me.

"You look distracted," Ella said, when she left, "Did I strike a chord?" she asked, smiling.

"What?" I asked.

Ella shook her head, "Never mind. I was just wondering how things we doing in your love life."

"It's non-existent," I said, shrugging.

"And I think we should change that," she said.

I rolled my eyes, "I don't need a boyfriend."

"Would you like one?" she asked, smiling, "I could set you up with someone I know."

"Who?" I asked, my voice strong and my eyes narrowed.

She smirked, "Fang. Who else?"

I sighed, "There's nothing going on between us." And that was, sadly, the truth.

"There could be. I think you really like each other. You too would make such an amazing couple. It would be like, the stereotypical boy-next-door story, and you would tell it to your children and they'd be all like 'Aw', and it would be adorable," Ella said, overly animated. I could almost make out flowers blooming around her and see the hearts swirling in front of her eyes.

I narrowed my eyes, "You know, you spend a little too much time in Ella Fantasy Land."

She glared at me, "I'm serious."

"So am I."

"I mean, I'm serious that he really likes you. You should consider it. A relationship with him."

"I _have_ considered it," I said too suddenly.

Her eyes widened in shock, "You have?!"

I sighed, wondering how I could lie myself out of this one. "And it didn't end well," I admitted.

"But that was only your imagination," she said quickly, "And you just admitted to liking him!"

"I did not," I said hotly, "And I _don't _like him."

"I can tell you're lying," she sang, "You love him. You even admitted it yourself. I was there, remember?"

"When?" I asked, confused.

"You know, that time with the Valium..."

My face darkened and I glared at her, "You will promise never to talk about that again. Understood?"

"It was cute," she said, frowning, "Fang was blushing. I remember."

"Enough," I said, "That was like, a year ago. Things change."

"Not that much."

"Ella Martinez, you should go out for the debate team."

"Things don't change too much. I bet he still likes you. _And_ he kissed you."

It was silent for a moment, as she stared at me. My stomach was growling, and all I wanted was my three slices of sausage and pepperoni pizza with a side of garlic bread. That was all. I was getting annoyed at all of Ella's chatter.

"I'm just saying," Ella went on, "that he doesn't seem like the type to lead on you like that without feeling anything."

"Well, that was then," I said.

"And it's not much different from now," she pointed out.

"Right, unless you count living on the opposite side of the country not much different."

She paused, the brought her drink closer to her, "That's not what I meant."

I sighed, knowing exactly what she meant. I looked down at the table top, wringing my hands together underneath the table. I couldn't believe we were actually talking about this. I hadn't thought people had an opinion in our relationship status.

Or maybe, it was obvious to everyone that I liked him. Ella had a good idea on the situation, and she was getting information from Iggy. And Nudge certainly had a lot to say about it.

But that doesn't mean anything.

"What would you do if he asked you out?" Ella said suddenly, "Like on a date."

I shrugged, "He wouldn't."

She smiled, "What if he did?"

I paused, crinkling my eyebrows together, "But he wouldn't."

"Would you say yes?"

"Ella, can you actually see Fang, _Fang, _asking me to go out on a date with him?" I asked.

"Yes! I can see him asking you out. You guys would be so good together. And I think he really likes you. I can tell," she said.

I rolled my eyes, "I can't believe we're talking about this."

"You still haven't answered my question!" she said, raising her eyebrows, "Hypothetically, if he was like, sick and had taken Sudafed or something that morning and he asked you out on a date, just one date, would you say yes?"

"Probably not," I admitted.

She stared at me. "Why not?" she asked, outraged.

I shrugged again, "Because. It would end badly."

"How do you know?"

I sighed, "Why does it matter? He would never ask me out anyway. And besides," I said, "I don't like him."

She narrowed her eyes, "You don't know that. And he has kissed you before."

I froze, my hand on the cap of my soda bottle. "What does that have to do with anything?" I asked carefully.

"If a boy kisses you," Ella started, "and it's not just some ridulous joke or dare or something, doesn't that mean that he at least has some interest in you? Especially since this is Fang we're talking about. He just doesn't go around kissing random girls.»

I gritted my teeth, flashbacks from a year ago involuntarily popping up in my head.

Ella caught onto my expression immediately, and she leaned forward, her eyebrows about to reach her hairline, and her eyes about to jump out of her sockets. She looked as though she was about to be granted the secret to the apocalypse.

"What? Who was it? He kissed someone who's not you?" Her voice was so surprised, it was like she had never imagined anyone else with Fang.

"It's not a big deal. It was a while ago," I said, pretending to distract myself with my napkin and silverware.

"Who was it? Did you know her?"

"She was just some girl," I said.

"Are you jealous?" Ella's eyes were wide, as well as her smile.

"_No_," I said quickly, as her smile grew.

"You sound jealous."

"I'm not," I said strongly, hoping to end this conversation.

"If you were jealous, it would mean that you like him," she said.

"But I don't."

"You _do._ And he likes you back."

I stayed quiet, glancing up at the clock on the wall, hoping my food would come soon, so I would have something else better to do besides twirling my thumbs and talking to Ella.

Instead, I watched as Ella stuck her finger between her bottle and the paper wrapped around it. She pulled the bottle away, ripping the paper off, and crumbled it into a ball. She wasn't looking at me.

"I just think that he really cares for you," she said, calmer than before, her eyes still on the table. "And he's the only one who really knows you."

I didn't say anything. I stared at my reflection on the napkin container. Of course Fang knew me best, because he was my best friend. Underneath the table, I rubbed my feet together uncomfortably.

"Max," Ella said, and I felt her looking at me, "Why did you let him go, if you really do like him?"

I didn't look up. I didn't say anything. I didn't move.

"I bet he would've stayed here if you said something."

I felt my breath catch, and thought back on all of those times where Fang said that no one was going to leave, and how I had never believed him. If things weren't this way, if no one was forcing us to live separtely, would it still be different?

Would we still be living together? Would Fang still be here?

I was quiet, contemplating these new found questions. He had seemed so sure of himself, but how had he known that no one wanted to go? Everyone had left anyway. He was wrong.

But Nudge had been so upset when I told her we couldn't live in that house we found. Would she have stayed with us, in that house, even if he meant not going to live with her parents? She had seemed so excited, back at the hotel. And out of the entire flock, it was Nudge who had wanted to live with her parents the most, to just be like a normal teenaged girl.

The waitress came back and slid our food on the table in front of us, but suddenly, I was distracted. I looked down and watched as the grease slid of the pizza and seeped onto the paper plate, most likely leaving a trail on the table. Carefully, just for something to do, I picked a piece of pepperoni off of the pizza, and popped in my mouth, slowly chewing. Ella was watching me.

"I bet he misses you."

With both hands, so I wouldn't stranggle her, I picked up the pizza and brought it to my lips. "Could we possibly change the subject?" I said, "You know, like, _before _I kill you?"

She watched me, before taking a bite of her own lunch, "I just think you're not the type would likes change so much. Sure, you're used to it, the uncertainty, I mean," she said with her mouth full, "And you're not one to make the first move, especially if it means changing your relationship with Fang. You're also not one for feelings. So I just thought you needed motivation."

I glared at her, not saying anything.

"And of course," she smiled slyly, "Fang asked me to bring it up."

I almost dropped my pizza.

"Ok, no he didn't, but he did call last week, after you got back from Nudge's house, and he asked me to watch out for you because you were acting strange. I think he's worried about you," she said.

"He called you?" I asked.

"Well, he called for you, but I picked up."

"Ok," I said, "We are so done talking about this. Capiche?"

Ella frowned but stayed quiet. For a moment anyway.

"What happened when you went to Nudge's?"

I sighed, "Nothing."

"I didn't mean what happened between you and Fang. I meant what happened in general," she said.

"Nothing," I repeated through tight teeth.

"It seemed like you were upset about something when you came back."

"God, Ella, you are almost as bad as Nudge!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you don't shut up. At all," I said, placing a hand on my forehead.

She glanced down at her lunch, and didn't say anything. I sighed and continued eating. I could see her sneaking glances at me, looking up from under her eyelashes. She started playing with her drink again.

"What?" I asked, my tone harsh, dropping my pizza onto the plate.

"I was just trying to help," she said.

"Well stop," I said, "There's really nothing you can do anyway."

"You act like everything is the end of the world," she exaggerated, "You're so dramatic."

"Me?" I asked, "You just completely made up this whole romance thing between me and Fang!"

She gazed at me evenly, "No I didn't. But I wasn't talking about that. You walk around all sorry for yourself, and whenever Mom, or I, or _Fang _try to help you, you just totally ignore. Not trying to ignite the fire or anything here, but you know, if you really wanted ou guys to stay together you could've done something. Sure, you were up against the government, but weren't you in worse situations before?"

I was silent for a moment, "How did you know that the government was against us?"

She shrugged, "Iggy told me."

I stared at her, not really hungry anymore.

"I can't do anything," I admitted, quietly.

"You act like it's the end of the world. Friends move. It's not that hard to keep in touch." She leaned in across the table, "You have _wings._ You can _fly_. And you're telling me that you'll never see them again."

"I never said I that. And it's different."

"How?"

I clasped my hands under the table, "Ella, I can count on my fingers how many people there are that I care about. And five of them just moved away. They weren't just my friends."

"So if they mean so much to you, why aren't you doing anything about it?"

"I'm _trying."_

She stared at me. "If you say so," she said strongly, leaning back in her chair, "Maybe you should try a little harder."

"Alright. Since you think you know everything," I started, my voice harsh, "how about you tell me what to do."

She shrugged, "Buy a house."

I shook my head back and forth, as Nudge's conversation with me replayed through my head. I couldn't believe this.

"I'm not going to buy a house," I said.

"Ok, not a house. But you should find a meeting place or something. Somewhere you can meet up on the weekends."

I stared at her, knowing what I was going to spend the rest of the summer doing.

"Ella," I started, leaning forward, "You are a genius."

She shrugged, smiling a little, "I know."

**Next chapter will be coming up, along with a little poll. Let's see how many people will hate me after I post next chapter's little author's note…**


	21. New

**Whoa. An update. This feels weird…**

**Anyway, here's the truth. This is the last chapter. Good? Bad? I don't know. I was originally going to have one more before this one, but decided against it after I got half way through.**

**Also, PLEASEEEEE read the parting AN at the bottom; it will explain many things. **

* * *

"I'll sport a smile  
Take in some color  
Under the stars  
I'll be your lover  
With no distractions I'm gonna treat you right"

-The Starting Line

* * *

**Chapter 21**

"What are we doing back here?" Nudge said, hovering above me. I just tucked in my wings and placed my hands on my hips, staring at the abandoned house in front of us. Everyone else landed behind me, waiting for my answer.

"I've been thinking…" I started.

Nudge slammed next to me as she landed her eyes, bulging out of her head. "You've been thinking about what?"

"Well, it would be such a shame to let a perfectly good house go to waste," I exaggerated, and Nudge grabbed onto my arm in excitement.

"Are we going to live here?" she asked, and on my other side Angel stepped forward so I could see her.

"No," I said slowly, "You guys can't leave your parents. That's the deal."

"But..." Angel said hopefully, knowing exactly what I was going to say next. I turned around to face everyone, Nudge was still hanging onto my arm.

"This could be like a meeting place. Somewhere to spend the weekends," I said.

"Like a vacation home?" the Gasman asked.

"Yeah, sort of," I said.

It was quiet for a moment while I guaged their reactions. Fang and Iggy were emotionless, but Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy looked hopeful, yet somewhat skeptical.

"So we would still be living with our families, but we would get to meet up on the weekends here," Nudge clarified.

"Yeah," I said, and she smiled.

"I'm in," Gazzy said quickly.

"Yeah," said Angel. "Me too."

"It'll be like a huge sleepover every weekend. Or even afterschool sometimes. I'll be here so much, you'll get sick of me," Nudge said excitedly.

"Nudge," I started, putting my arm around her shoulders. "I would never get sick of you. But it is kinda of a long flight for the rest of us to make it here every afternoon."

"Well, you'll miss me so much you'll just be dying to come see me," she smiled.

"Can we go in?" Gazzy asked.

"Yeah. We'll look around, kick out the spiders, then hit the store for some necessities. Sound good?" I asked smiling.

The three of them nodded, and they turned to leave, while Fang gave me a stern look.

"Don't go in without us!" I shouted over my shoulder, but didn't get an answer.

"Ok," Iggy started. "What was that?"

"What was what?" I asked, my eyebrows knitting together.

"'Oh, we can use this house as our vacation home!'" Iggy said, mocking me. "Why are you leading them on? You know that we can never stay here for long periods of time."

"Well, it's better than nothing. And we have an opportunity. And I'm not leading them on!"

"I'm just saying," Iggy started, "that these so called "people" you keep talking about, ordered us to split up, and you didn't do anything about it then, so why start now?"

"Because I have to do something," I said.

It was quiet for a moment, and Iggy sighed and walked towards the house, where the others were lingering. I turned to watch him, and they vanished around the side of the house. I looked back at Fang, who was staring at me intently.

"What?" I asked him. A large cracking noise came from the distance, and I sighed.

"I asked them not to go in," I said, and Fang raised his eyebrows.

"You really have no idea what you're doing, do you?" he said.

"What do you mean?" I crossed my arms over my chest, huffing.

"When did you get the idea to live in this house?" he asked.

"Last week. After we all went home."

"And what are we planning to tell our parents?"

"That we're visiting each other for the weekend," I said. "Why are you asking me all of these pointless questions?"

"I'm trying to figure out what's going through your head," he said, and I was taken back. Fang always knew what I was thinking, or so it seemed.

"I just don't think that you're thinking this through," he said.

"Fang," I said, annoyed. "I have a plan. I always have a plan."

He smiled, and I stepped back surprised. "You haven't said that in a while."

"Well, I didn't have a plan before. Now I do." I crossed my arms over my chest. He was still smiling.

"No you don't," Fang said. "I know when you're lying."

"I'm not lying," I defended. "Here's my plan. We're going to live here."

His eyes narrowed. "On the weekends," he clarified.

"Yup." I nodded.

Fang shook his head. "You really had no idea what you were doing. You still don't. I don't know how you do it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

He stared at me for a long minute. "Never mind," he said, then turned to walk to where the flock were waiting around the corner, but not before looking back to make sure I was following.

* * *

"Do you think Fang would get mad if we "accidentally" switch his gray paint with a lime green one?" Nudge asked, holding up obnoxiously bright paint cards.

"Yeah he would," the Gasman said. "Let's do it!"

"Uh, _no_," I said.

"Why not?" Nudge asked. "We could still buy his color, but then buy an extra one and pretend that that's the one we got him. It would be hilarious!"

"Well, for one thing, it would be hilarious for everyone except for Fang, and we also don't have unlimited amounts of money to spend on extra paint we won't use and we would have to carry the extra paint can with us," I said.

"I bet Fang would think it's funny," Gazzy said.

"No. Just pick out your color."

After a look around the house, we split up and went shopping. Iggy, Fang and Angel went to Wal-Mart to get cleaning supplies while Nudge, Gazzy and I hit up the Home-Depot for paint, and minor construction equipment. Our first move was to un-board all of the windows and clean up the cobwebs and the kitchen. Angel and Nudge wanted to paint, but unfortunately, we couldn't paint a dirty house.

"I still can't believe you get the biggest room," Gazzy complained, while comparing two different blues.

"Well, that's because there are three of us sharing," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. "And that blue would give you a headache."

"I still don't understand why I can't have my own room," he whined.

"I told you. The other rooms are unlivable. And don't you like rooming with Iggy?"

"How are they unlivable?" Nudge asked.

"The roof is collapsing," I said, putting my paint cards back into the slot.

"We've lived under worse conditions," the Gasman pointed out.

"Yes, but it's still not safe. And until someone fixes the roof, no one is going to be sleeping in there. Understood?"

"Fine. But why does Fang get a room all to himself?" Gazzy asked.

"Because that's just how we split up the rooms. You can ask to share with him if you want," I said.

"But I'm already sharing with Iggy," he said.

"Well then," I responded. "Stop complaining and pick a color so we can get out of here."

Thankfully, the two stores we had split up with were in the same shopping center, so when everyone was done, we took off in the back corner of the parking lot. Fang got stuck carrying the paint cans home, but he wasn't one to complain, so I wasn't too worried about him. I could easily pick up on the younger three's excitement, but I didn't understand why Fang and Iggy were so unhappy. If anything, they were the two people who knew close to everything I was hiding, so I expected them to be more grateful for our home improvement project.

"Hey Max?" Nudge asked, swooping down to be at my level. "Can I ask you something?"

I turned my head, taking in her troubled expression, her hair blowing in the wind, making her look wild. "Yeah, anything."

"Why did you change your mind? I mean, a few weeks ago, you didn't want to live here with us. What's the difference about now? And I know I asked to live her all the time, and we're not actually going to be living her, its just like a place to meet up on the weekends, but I wanted to know how come you turned my idea down before," she said, not looking at me.

I paused before answering, and she turned her head, facing mine. For the first time in a while, I noticed how grown up she was. She wasn't the little girl who used to tug on my sleeve and follow me around the School or curl up next to me on the couch while we were watching a movie, like she used to be. She realized that I was keeping something from her, from all of them, and I could tell she was hurt by it.

"Nudge," I started slowly. "It's pretty complicated. And I'm not really sure how long this will even last for. When you asked me, I was just caught off guard. I didn't have time to really think things through."

"You never used to think things through," Nudge said. "You always just kinda jumped the gun on stuff. And what's the big deal about living together again anyway? Don't you want to see us anymore?"

I blinked, and answered quickly, "Of course I do! Nudge, this was never about getting rid of anyone, all right? I'm just thinking of what's best for all of us."

"Oh," she said, uncharacteristically quiet. I got the feeling that she wasn't partically happy with my answer, but I couldn't tell her about my promise to keep us seperate. Things would just get messy.

On the other side of Nudge, I caught Fang staring at me. He was giving me an unreadable look, but he didn't seem too happy either. What was up with him?

* * *

"How did I get stuck with you?" Fang asked, as I dropped a plastic bag filled with cleaning supplies down on the floor.

"Obviously, someone's mother didn't teach them their manners," I replied, as he rolled his eyes.

"And how did I end up cleaning _your_ room?" he asked.

"Oh, Fang. It's just because you can't stand to see me all by myself cleaning and painting an entire room, while everyone else is already paired up," I said, semi-sarcastically.

"That must be it," he said, and switched the broom his was holding to his other hand.

"We're probably going to get the most work done anyway. Nudge and Angel won't do a great job dusting and cleaning and stuff, and leaving Iggy to check the electricity was probably not the smartest move," I said.

Fang didn't respond. He just started sweeping, making long strokes across the floor. I watched him for a moment, before unknotting the handles on the plastic bag.

"So, what's all this about?" Fang asked a second later.

I sighed understanding what he meant. "I just thought it would be a good idea to have a meeting place," I said defensively. "I don't see why it's such a big deal."

"Why now?" he asked, his back facing me.

"Because I didn't know what to do at the time," I said, starting to get aggravated.

"It was pretty obvious."

I stood up straighter and stared at his back. Fang didn't notice. I sighed again, and picked up a dirty rag and a bottle of Windex.

I was in the middle of cleaning the third and last window, when I noticed Fang was looking at me. He was giving me a look that I knew almost too well, and I narrowed my eyes.

"What?" I asked skeptically.

"Almost done? We can start painting."

"Yeah," I said, going back to the window. He stepped closer to me.

"I got all the cobwebs," he said.

"Really?"

He took a step closer. "Yeah, look."

I turned my head, and was greeted by a daddy-long-leg that was dangling from Fang's hand.

Instinctivly, I jumped back, dropping the towel to the floor, and gasped queitly, while Fang smiled.

"That wasn't funny," I said, and he shrugged.

"You never were one for spiders," he said, but I shook my head.

"That's not true. I didn't mind them. It was Gazzy who also got scared."

Fang smiled again. "Well, don't remind him of that. He thinks he's all tough now," and I smiled in return.

Fang opened up the window next to me, and dropped the spider to the ground. Leaving the window open to catch the breeze, he motioned to the bag on the floor that was holding the paint cans and brushes. "Shall we?" he asked.

I nodded and knelt down next to him while he pried the lid off. A liquidy yellow color dripped onto the wood floor as he held the top away from the can.

"Nice color," he commented.

"Hey, don't look at me. I told Nudge I wasn't sleeping in a pink room, and this was her second choice," I said, waving my hands.

"And so you compromised on..." Fang brought the lid closer, reading the name, "Lemon Tart?"

I shrugged.

He looked at me for a moment before putting the lid on the floor and digging out the brushes. "You know what this reminds me of?" he asked.

"What?"

Not looking at me, he answered, "When we moved into our house in Colorado."

"You mean the interior decorating?" I said, not understanding. They were completely different circumstances.

Fang shook his head. "More than that. When we moved into to the house in the mountains, it was like we were starting over. And we're doing the same here."

"Starting over?" I asked. "How so?"

He emptied his hands and looked me in the eye. "Once we left the School, it was like we had a different life. Now that we're not always running anymore, it's like we've started over again."

I nodded. "It's like our lives are split into sections."

"Yeah," Fang said. He paused before continuing. "It's like we're safe again."

I looked at him, turning my head slowly. "What do you mean?"

"The first time we moved in the Colorado house, we were finally safe. It's almost the same."

I paused for a moment. "You feel safe here?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. He up at me and smiled slowly. "I do."

I smiled back and picked up a brush. I watched Fang as he slowly poured the paint into the plastic container. Some of it splattered as he dumped it too quickly, and the paint landed on my leg.

"Oh, thanks," I said sarcastically, and he looked down and smiled. Then he stuck his forefinger into the paint, and traced a line of yellow painted across my thigh.

"Oops," said Fang.

I narrowed my eyes and stuck my fingers into the paint before trailing it across his jeans, leaving parallel yellow stripes. "Oh, now you look like a bumble bee," I commented, and he glared at me.

"That's nice," he said, before dunking his hand in the can and then slapping the back of my shoulder, leaving a hand print.

My mouth opened it a slight 'O' as I turned my head and tugged on my shirt, trying to see the yellow paint. One glance at Fang's smug expression, and I got my game face on.

"Oh, you asked for it," I said, leaning closer to the paint can, just as he did.

I didn't know what I was thinking, attacking Fang like this. I knew him well enough to know how fierce he gets in a challenge, and boy, was he determined. I had stuck with my hands, grabbing random clothing material on him and leaving him pretty patches of yellow paint that contrasted amazingly against his black clothes. Fang was smarter and used a paintbrush as well as his hands, literally rolling the brush across my outstretched arms reaching for him.

With my hand dripping paint, I leaned closer to him, and connected my palm with his cheek, before sliding my hand down, leaving a trail of yellow. Fang's eyes widened in mock anger, and I smiled smugly. I turned my hand around and stroked his other cheek slowly with the back of my hand, laughing at his expression. Quickly, I ran that same hand through his hair, pulling the ends upward, so it looked like a mohawk.

Fang grabbed my wrist and pinned it to the floor. I protested semi-loudly, but he arranged himself so he blocked the paint can. Still holding onto my wrist, Fang leaned forward but I couldn't see what I was doing. I tried to lean around him, but he held me in place by jerking his elbow into my side, causing me to fall on the floor.

Fang turned to look down on me, a mischievious look on his face. Within a moment, he had leaned closer to me, and grabbed my face his his hand.

"Fang," I said, but it came out jumbled, as moved his paint-clad hand across my face and down my neck. I grabbed his arm with my free hand, and held it for a moment.

"Fang," I repeated.

"Max," he said calmly, staring straight into my eyes.

"Look what you've done," I scoffed sarcastically. "How did we end up like this?"

Fang looked down at me, because he was sort of on top of me, but not really. One hand was still holding my wrist to the floor, and my hand was holding his in the air, but Fang was still situated in front of me, leaning over me slighltly. "I'm not really sure," he said slowly, contemplating our current situation. He showed no signs of moving.

"Nice hair," I commented, and he smirked.

"You know, yellow suits you pretty well," he said.

"Oh really? Maybe I should wear it more often," I retailiated.

"You should," Fang said, his voice suddenly serious. I don't know who moved first, but our arms were moving down, until mine reached the floor. I was leaning back on my elbows, and Fang had one hand at each of my sides and was leaning down on a knee. Neither of us said anything, but Fang had a weird expression on his face, one I had seen before, but couldn't place where.

"Max," he said softly, before leaning in closer. My heart jumped, as his eyelids grew heavy. There was a slight pause, and I closed my eyes slowly, and felt his breath brush against my face.

I heard something sizzle and then a quiet burst, and my eyes flew back open. Fang was extremely close, and our eyes met with the same expression.

"Iggy," I whispered, and Fang sighed, before letting go of my wrists and leaning back off of me.

"What was that?" I called out, sitting up.

"Nothing!" Gazzy yelled convincingly.

Fang and I exchanged a look. "Just like old times, huh?" I asked, smiliing.

He shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "Yeah."

We stared at each other for a moment, before I burst out laughing.

"What?" he asked.

"Your hair," I said, pointing at him.

He grimanced. "Well, whose fault was that?"

I laughed again and started to stand up. "Well, we better check to make sure the two of them didn't burn the place down. Already."

Fang stood up as he shook his head again. "I don't know what you're worried about," he said. "Nothing has changed."

But that was where he was wrong. Everything had changed. But instead of telling him that, I just nodded, and let him follow me out of the room.

But in some regards, I guess things were meant to change.

**THE END.**

**Alright, here is a list of my many confessions.**

**First, when I got this idea, it didn't really start off as this story. Like many things in my life, I tended to get caught up in the idea and voila! This specific story was born.**

**So I guess this could classify as a prequel to my original idea. Which means that I will be writing a sequel to this (which is what I originally wanted to write in the first place.)**

**So my plan is to get a majority of the sequel written over the summer. I already have it outlined and some of the first chapter written, and I think the updating will go a lot faster because I enjoy the idea more than I enjoy this story.**

**One last thing. PLEASE REVIEW. I want your opinions on the story overall and such. Even if it's like, "I hate you and you update soooooooo slowly," (because you know it's true). But anyway. Please review AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING! **


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